One Nation, Under Construction

FAIN: TD-50195-10

Chicago Architecture Foundation (Chicago, IL 60604-2505)
Gregory K. Dreicer (Project Director: August 2009 to February 2012)

Development of 15 programs for a new one-hour, internet-based radio show providing diverse perspectives on American architecture, cities, and urban infrastructure.

The Chicago Architecture Foundation requests an America's Media Makers Production Grant in support of "One Nation, Under Construction," a weekly web and radio broadcast program that engages people in learning the stories behind the building -- conceptual and physical -- of America's spaces, places, and structures. Each week, the show will address a humanities theme through exploration of architecture, infrastructure, urban history, planning, and landscape. While drawing on the latest scholarship, each 60-minute broadcast will surprise, engage, and move viewers as it investigates the link between the ways of building and the values of the builders. The innovative power of this project derives from its approach -- featuring the everyday voices and stories that illuminate humanities themes discussed by featured scholars and experts -- combined with an internet-based strategy linked to a national scholarly network and the Chicago Architecture Foundations extensive programming.