Skip to main content

New PBS TV Special to Explore 10 Buildings That Changed America

Architecture program to air nationally in early 2013.

For immediate release
- April 10, 2012

WTTW Chicago, America’s most-watched public television station, has announced its list of buildings to be featured in 10 Buildings that Changed America, a national TV special coming to PBS in 2013 about ten influential American buildings that changed the way we live, work, and play.

These ten buildings were selected in consultation with a panel of historians and architects from across the country:

  1. Virginia State Capitol, Richmond, VA
  2. Trinity Church, Boston, MA
  3. Wainwright Building, St. Louis, MO
  4. Robie House, Chicago, IL
  5. Highland Park Ford Plant, Highland Park, MI
  6. Southdale Center Mall, Edina, MN
  7. Seagram Building, New York, NY
  8. Dulles International Airport, Chantilly, VA
  9. Vanna Venturi House, Chestnut Hill, PA
  10. Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles, CA

The program’s cast and crew are currently traveling coast-to-coast, capturing these influential works of American architecture and interviewing some of the nation’s most esteemed architects and historians.

10 Buildings that Changed America is hosted by Geoffrey Baer, an Emmy Award-winning producer and program host. Best known for his extraordinarily popular feature-length specials about Chicago architecture and history, Baer has also hosted national public television documentaries profiling the architects Robert A.M. Stern and Michael Graves, as well as Saved from the Wrecking Ball, a half-hour program about the preservation of Mies van der Rohe’s Farnsworth House. The program is written and produced by Dan Protess, who has been creating critically-acclaimed television programs for WTTW for more than a decade.

Also currently in production is a companion website packed with additional content; please visit wttw.com/10buildings.

10 Buildings that Changed America is produced in partnership with the Society of Architectural Historians.

Leadership funding for 10 Buildings that Changed America is provided by The Negaunee Foundation, ITW, and Robert & Joan Clifford. Generous support is also provided by the Joseph and Bessie Feinberg Foundation, Rande & Cary McMillan, and Richard & Mary L. Gray. (Funding support as of 4/10/12.)

To learn about sponsorship opportunities, please contact the WTTW Development Office at (773) 509-5579 or [email protected].