NOWNESS

2013 2014
IIT Architecture
Chicago
El Ahora NOWNESS is our approach. One that attempts to reach a di-
verse audience; one that demonstrates architecture’s multidis-
ciplinary character; and one that we hope reflects the depth,
originality, and differences of our ideas, visions, and percep-

2013 2014
tions. It is a tool to communicate dreams, presenting our goals
to the metropolis of Chicago and to the world at large. Cross-
disciplinary collaboration presents possibilities, encouraging

IIT Arquitectura innovation within our own discipline. Architecture, today, is

in demand. Now is the moment, and Chicago is the metropo-
lis, in which we launch this printed medium, supported by a

Chicago diverse group of students and faculty who, together, compose

the world’s most intriguing architectural academic institution.
Here, theoretical discourse, model making, debate in relation
to the process of drawing, critical thinking, and computational
representation all contribute to the process of the production
of products that work. That makes this institution more than
relevant today. Welcoming students from all over the globe,
who share with us their interest in “Rethinking Metropolis”, we
provide a platform for research, for the development of knowl-
edge and skills, for taking part in design exercises, for debate,
for making. Publications like this connect the communities
they create, positioning themselves as a platform for dialogue.
They are a fascinating format, and an appropriate set of tools,
transmitting communicative exchanges between students,
faculty, and guests. Writing a text; editing images; printing on
paper—publications are more than relevant to today’s archi-
tectural discipline. Parallel to print is the internet, updating
us daily. Tactile publications and digital information should be
seen as complementary within “Rethinking Metropolis”.

Wiel Arets, Dean
 Extending back to the end of the nineteenth century, 3

the legacy of architectural education at IIT took on in-in -

ternational significance with the appointment of Ludwig
Mies van der Rohe as director in 1938. Mies, a leading
figure of German modernism and the last head of the
Bauhaus, was soon also commissioned to plan the
Institute’s expanding campus. He would eventually de- de -
sign twenty of its buildings, including IIT Architecture’s
home in S. R. Crown Hall. For two decades, IIT was the
headquarters and laboratory from which Mies reshaped
both architectural education and architectural form in
the postwar world.
Along with former Bauhaus instructors Ludwig
Hilberseimer and Walter Peterhans, Mies established
the IIT curriculum as an extension of its famous German
predecessor and as the culmination of his own lifelong
inquiry into architecture, art, history, and philosophy.
Fundamentally, Mies’s program expressed his belief that
the shockingly new technological and social conditions
of the postwar period could be comprehended and given
aesthetic expression only when viewed in the light of ar-ar-
chitectural history and the principles of building revealed
by this history. Practically, the curriculum led students
through a sequence of material-specific studios that
mirrored the historical evolution of architectural tech-
tech-
nology—wood, stone, brick, steel, and concrete—be-
concrete—be-
fore presenting them with more general problems of
architecture and urban planning. While the results of
this approach became increasingly fixed for Mies—and
for many of his followers—it is crucial to recall that the
forms of Mies’s late career in Chicago wwere the product
of decades of exploration and critical reflection. It is this
legacy of sustained and historically informed inquiry,
rather than any particular formal vocabulary, that IIT
Architecture carries forward today.
The legacy of Mies’s time at IIT is also directly
materialized in the ensemble of buildings that form
the campus, as well as his many other projects in the
Chicago area. His Lake Shore Drive apartment build-build -
ings were developed as prototypes for metropolitan

Legacy
4 housing, while his Farnsworth House can be seen as the
precursor to his later pavilion-like public buildings. Here
the lessons taught by careful observation are not only
those of Mies’s famous precision, thoughtfulness, and
elegance, but also of his ambiguity, complexity, tension,
and even, sometimes, plainness. The extensive cata-cata-
logue of Mies’s work in Chicago reveals that, far from
being fixed, his architecture was constantly in develop-
develop -
ment, undergoing changes and refinements that reflect
a productive struggle with the timeless architectural
conundrums of materiality, appearance, and perfor-
perfor -
mance. From the nearly brutal nonchalance of Mies’s
addition to his own Minerals and Metals Building to the
famously ambiguous corners of Alumni Memorial Hall
and its kin, and from the visual richness arising from the
single space of Crown Hall to Carr Chapel’s irresolvable
fluctuation between the sacred and the profane, the IIT
campus itself overturns any notion that Mies was the
purveyor of a narrow architectural truth. Instead, IIT
Architecture has the unique good fortune of inhabit-
inhabit-
ing, and advancing, one of the world’s richest and most
subtle living architectural legacies.

Legacy
10

... this space welcomes you for each season of the year. 11

in the early morning, whether Welcoming students, faculty,

there’s fog, rain, or snow; or and staff; but also guests and
whether there’s a blue sky at visitors; and curious pass-
sunset. Crown Hall feels like a ers-by who just want to know
home for teaching, studying, what’s going on... a home for
and working; for research, lec- friends from all over the world
tures, and debates; for having ... the address for architecture
dinner and for hearing music in Chicago by all means...
and for... as you leave at night
and you look at the gloam-
ing light... it makes you long
for the next day to come... a
house for every moment, an
ever-changing building adapt-
ing to every need. Equipped
Legacy Legacy
12

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, All education must begin with the
practical side of life, if one wants
to address real education.
life. Our values make possible our
spiritual [intellectual] existence.
If this is true of all human
13

Inaugural Address as Director However, one must transcend

this to mold the personality, lead-
lead-
activity where even the slightest
question of value is involved, then

of Architecture at IIT, ing to an improvement of mankind.

The first aim should be to
equip the student for practical life.
it must be more true in the field of
architecture.
In its simplest form architec-
architec -
20 November 1938 It gives him [or her] the proper
knowledge and skills.
ture is entirely rooted in practical
considerations, but it can reach up
Translation by Fritz Neumeyer,
N in The Artless Word: Mies van der Rohe on the Building Art. The second aim addresses the through all degrees of value to the
development of personality. It en-en- highest realm of spiritual [intel-
[intel-
ables him [or her] to make the right lectual] existence, into the realm
use of this knowledge and skill. of the sensuously apprehendable,
Thus true education is con- con - and into the sphere of pure art.
cerned not only with practical Any teaching of architecture
goals but also with values. must recognize this situation if we
By our goals we are bound are to succeed in our efforts.
to the specific structure of our It must fit the system to this reality,
epoch. It must explain these relations
Our values, on the other hand, and interrelations.
are rooted in the spiritual [or intel-
intel- We must make clear, step by
lectual; Ger. geistigen
geistigen]] nature of step, what is possible, necessary,
man. and significant,
Our practical aims determine If teaching has any purpose at
the character of our civilization. all, it is to implant knowledge and
Our values determine the height of responsibility.
our culture. Education must lead us from ir- ir -
Different as practical aims and responsible opinion to responsible
values are, arising out of different insight.
planes, they are nevertheless It must lead us from chance
closely connected. and arbitrariness to the clear law-
law-
For to what else should our val- val - fulness of a spiritual [intellectual]
ues be related if not to our aims in order.
life? And where should these goals Therefore let us guide our
get their meaning if not through students over the disciplined path
values? from materials through the practi-
practi-
Both realms together are fun- fun - cal aims of creative work.
damental to human existence. Let us lead them into the healthy
Our aims assure us of our material world of primitive buildings, where

Legacy Legacy
14 each axe stroke meant something The brick is another teacher. we must understand the nature of overemphasizes the materialistic 15

and each chisel stroke made a real How sensible is this small handy our goals, we must also learn abut and functionalistic factors.
statement. shape, so useful for every purpose. the spiritual [intellectual] position It fails to satisfy our feeling that
Where can we find greater clar-
clar- What logic in its bonding, what in which we stand. means must be subsidiary to ends
ity in structural connections than liveliness in the play of patterns. That is a precondition for proper and our desire for dignity and value.
in the wooden buildings of old? What richness in the simplest action in cultural matters. Here too The Idealistic principle of
Where else can we find such wall surface. But what discipline we must know what is, because we order, however, with its overem-
overem-
unity of material, construction, this material imposes. are dependent on our epoch. phasis on the ideal and the formal,
and form? Thus each material has its Therefore we must come to satisfies neither our interest in
Here the wisdom of whole specific characteristics that one understand the carrying and driv-
driv- truth and simplicity nor our practi-
practi-
generations is stored. must get to know in order to work ing forces of our time. We must cal sense.
What feeling for material and with it. analyze their structure from the We shall emphasize the
what power of expression speaks This is no less true of steel and points of view of: organic principle of order that
in these buildings. concrete. We expect nothing from the material, makes the parts meaningful and
What warmth they generate, materials in themselves, but only the functional, measurable while determining
and how beautiful they are! They from the right use of them. and the spiritual [intellectual]. their relationship to the whole.
sound like familiar songs. Even the new materials give We must make clear in what And on this we shall have to
And buildings of stone as well: us no superiority. Each material is respects our epoch is similar to make a decision.
what natural feeling they express! only worth what we make of it. earlier ones and in what respects The long path from material
What a clear understanding In the same way that we learn it differs. through purpose to creative work
of the material. What certainty in about materials, we learn about At this point the problem of has only a single goal:
its use. What sense they had of our goals. technology arises for the students. to create order out of the un- un -
what one could and could not do We want to analyze them We shall attempt to raise holy mess of our time.
in stone. clearly. genuine questions – questions But we want an order that gives
Where do we find such wealth of We want to know what they about the value and purpose of to each thing its proper place, and
structure? contain; technology. we want to give each thing what is
Where do we find more healthy what distinguishes a building We want to show that technol-
technol - suitable to its nature.
energy and natural beauty? for living in from other kinds of ogy not only promises power We would do this so perfectly
With what obvious clarity a buildings. and greatness, but also involves that the world of our creations will
beamed ceiling rests on these old We want to know what it can dangers; blossom from within.
stone walls, and with what sensi-
sensi- be, what it must be, and what it that good and evil apply to it More we do not want; but also
tivity one cut a doorway through should not be. also, and that mankind must make more we cannot do.
these walls. We want, therefore, to learn its the right decision. Nothing can unlock the aim
Where else should young essence. Every decision leads to a spe-
spe - and meaning of our work bet- bet-
architects grow up than in the We shall examine one by one cific kind of order. ter than the profound words of
fresh air of a healthy world, and every function of a building, work Therefore we want to illuminate Thomas of Aquinas:
where else should they learn to out its character, and make it a the possible orders and lay bare “Beauty is the radiance of Truth.”
deal simply and astutely with the basis for design. their principles.
world than from these unknown Just as we acquainted our- our - We want to indicate that the
masters? selves with materials and just as mechanistic principle of order

Legacy Legacy
16 Where now is Ludwig Mies van What about Mies keeps me out? I think it’s very exciting to deal with the legacy of Mies van 17
der Rohe, the humanitarian who The question continues to haunt me, strangely der Rohe, who is constantly present at IIT through his won-
taught his students to concern drawing me further and further into Mies’s work. derful buildings.... One of the challenges will be to find the
themselves over the convenient The more I wonder why I am on the outside, the rigor, strength and elegance of Mies’s conceptual solutions
design of baggage claim areas more I find myself inside. in contemporary circumstances. It’s very important, and
and the comfortable height of should be a primary target, to not understand the legacy of
door handles? ...Where, too, is Beatriz Colomina, “Mies Not,” 1994 Mies in a stylistic way. Instead, the aim should be to find
Mies the humane pedagogue who new formal and structural approaches that only refer to the
sought to discover his students’ work of Mies van der Rohe in terms of quality and integ-
strengths and lacks, and taught rity.... I think the focus should remain on how to build, how
them to use their own eyes, trust to use materials, and how to define structures in architec-
their own judgment? It is almost ture. But at the same time, and from a formal perspective,
as if that kind of Mies van der it would be interesting to have a greater variety of research
Rohe had never existed, never on those aspects at IIT.
taught at the Bauhaus and Illinois
Institute of Technology... How, then, should one respond Christian Kerez, 2013

Mies was gentle in his ruthless-

ruthless- to IIT, an icon of mid-century
ness... He rarely corrected a modern architecture and urban-
urban-
student’s work... or showed them ism, itself more complex than
how a design should be done is usually acknowledged and IIT is one of the most interesting
better. Rather, he told them imperfect in its realization.... Just architectural education estab-
in front of their drawings that comprehending Mies is difficult lishments in America today....
something would not work, that a from this distance.... “By now,” he The young architect must learn
better solution to this or that was asked late in his life, “we should to become an outstanding indi-
needed. The rest was up to them have achieved a marvelous city vidual, creative thinker and to use
to discover or work out. They and a marvelous architecture. their talent to develop original
were not alone or without help, What went wrong?” How then to design. This can only be achieved
however. In the big single volume respond to one of the least under-
under- through an experimental and
of S.R. Crown Hall, without parti-
parti- stood and most subtle minds broad understanding of how we
tions or hierarchy... everybody’s of his generation.... The stakes IIT’s College of Architecture was the birthplace educate architects. The wide vari-
business was everybody else’s could hardly be higher. The confu-
confu- of modern architecture in the U.S. Its importance ety of studio curricula available at
business—or could be. The accu-accu- sions hardly greater. can hardly be overestimated. Mies van der Rohe’s IIT makes it possible to combine
mulated wisdom and experience tenure and his first American commissions fun- practice-based learning with the
of each year above was handily Detlef Mertins, “Design After Mies,” 1999 damentally changed corporate and residential culture and theory of architecture
available to each year below, to architecture in the U.S.... Mies created the most and to thus provide a fully round-
be tapped by observation, discus-
discus- distinct legacy of students and followers among all ed education to its students.
sion or intellectual osmosis... But of his contemporaries.
Ben van Berkel, 2013
only, that is, if they had the men-
men- Mies’s ideals of an architecture driven by
tal capacities to understand and careful attention to detail, structure, and materi-
apply the lessons of the disci-
disci- The record... shows that although Mies proposed als have long been lost in the American building
pline. That was the method at the a rigorous, fact-based objectivity wed to the market and American architectural education....
heart of the gnomic discourse of realities of his time, as an artist, the aesthetic So, in my opinion, Wiel Arets has to do what Mies
the studio. governed his decisions. Striving to create an did when he came to IIT: bring in European ideas
architecture “anybody can do,” he failed to foresee of what good architecture of high quality means
Reyner Banham, “The Master of Humane that his extraordinary eye and sense of proportion and return the “Art of Building” (Baukunst) to the
Architecture,” 1986
could not be duplicated. center of architectural education.

Phyllis Lambert, “Mies in America,” 2001 Dietrich Neumann, 2013

Legacy Legacy
 Contents
Certainly the most rigorous school of architecture in the United States at Approach 1
the end of the Second World War, the Illinois Institute of Technology may
Legacy 3
be seen in retrospect as a school of building art, as a Bauschule in fact,
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Inaugural 12
rather than a school of architecture with a capital “A” in the time-honored Address as Director of Architecture at IIT
humanist sense. Beyond achieving the simplest programmatic solution Remarks on IIT’s Legacy 16
possible to any given brief with a goal to achieving optimum flexibility by
maximizing the span, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe urged his acolytes and Nowness 21
Wiel Arets in Conversation with John 23
students to concentrate on the sobriety of elegant construction rather than
Ronan, Sean Keller, Robert McCarter, and
indulging in gratuitous formal plasticity. As we know, Mies aspired to a Stanley Tigerman
transcendent technology that would embody a dematerialized spirituality in Wiel Arets, Inaugural Address as Dean of 33
his famous “almost nothing” with which to compensate, as it were, for the Architecture at IIT
inescapable uprootedness of the late modern world. The trajectory of his
Programs of Study 47
career, along with that of the IIT graduates who followed his lead, remained
Bachelor of Architecture 54
neutral before the dissolution of the city into the placelessness of the Master of Architecture 56
megalopolis. In this regard, Ludwig Hilberseimer and Alfred Caldwell were Master of Landscape Architecture 58
able to mediate Mies’s tectonic objectivity through their mutual vision of Master of Science in Architecture 60
transcendent ex-urban landscape. Doctor of Philosophy in Architecture 62
The appointment of the distinguished Dutch architect Wiel Arets to
Global Network 73
the directorship of the IIT College of Architecture stands to inaugurate an Public Programs 76
entirely new epoch in the evolution of this institution—most surely because Publications and Media 77
Arets has long since demonstrated his prowess as both an architect and
an educator: first with his library for the University of Utrecht and second, Approach Study Abroad
Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitats
Mies Crown Hall North America Prize
77
78
79
with his inspiring leadership of the Berlage Institute in Amsterdam from
1995 to 2002. The pedagogical shift inherent in this appointment opens
the prospect of a reinvigorated IIT as an objective Bauschule for the
Legacy Morgenstern Visiting Chair
Innovation Center
Mies van der Rohe Society
80
80
80
twenty-first century. This recent pedagogical stance must surely aspire to a
rigorous architecture in which the liberative serviceability of the space-form Nowness Resources
Our Address
81
83
must be given priority along with the durability and sustainability of the
built-fabric over a broad front, ranging from the least embodied energy to
the careful calibration of the cultural status of the work. For as Mies ironi-
Programs McCormick Tribune Campus Center
Graham Architecture Library
Workshop and Design/Build Studios
84
86
87
cally acknowledged, every building is a cathedral. At the same time such a
modulated building culture should strive to widen our concept of technolog- Network Basic Facts
Degrees Offered
89
92
ical rationality to include both the socio-psychological and bio-ecological
well-being of the subject. Finally, above all, it is imperative that the design
of landscape be fully incorporated into the architectural curriculum.
Resources Admissions and Scholarships
Summer Opportunities
Community
92
93
93

Kenneth Frampton, 13 March 2013 Facts Colophon

Chicago
96

105

Chicago Metropolitan Events

Favorite Places
107
1 12
 Nowness
21

Wiel Arets in Conversation

with John Ronan, Sean Keller,
Robert McCarter, and Stanley
Tigerman

Wiel Arets, Inaugural Address

as Dean of Architecture at IIT

Legacy
22

Wiel Arets in conversation 23

with John Ronan, Sean Keller,

Robert McCarter, and Stanley
Tigerman

Legacy Nowness
24 The Young Architect with Alvin Boyarsky at the AA in London, when 25
the school was interested in having different
JR Wiel, why don’t you start by telling us architects, many even alumni, act as teachers
what you see as a practicing architect and at the AA, and a debate was started. I would
an academic; how do you see the role of the say it was a moment when the school was not
architect changing and what are the implica- focusing on a particular issue, which is what
tions for architectural education? many schools had done before, but instead
gave the teachers the possibility to focus on
WA The role of the architect has changed their ideas. And the students learned that they
dramatically over the last thousand years. had to develop their own positions. It was, in
Our world and discipline are becoming much that sense, different from schools where on
more complex. Our world is changing very fast day one students learned this and then that,
and we are building in a very fast way when and then at the end of the day the classes took
you compare today with the Middle Ages, students through the process of five years
for instance. The speed of time has changed of education, and after those five years, they
dramatically. And five hundred years ago either went along with the ideas the school
architectural education didn’t happen in the developed and explored or they slowly started
same way it does today; making, craftsman- to develop a different opinion.
ship, and the concept of the master was a What we also see in our society, when
daily routine. Even over the last fifty or ninety we look at the products produced by differ-
years architectural education has changed. ent companies, is how Apple took a position,
Mies, Le Corbusier, and all these mid-century concentrating on one product and making it
masters didn’t have the professional aca- feasible for many purposes. The reason I men-
demic education that we know today. So in tion Apple is because I believe very strongly
that sense I think the position of the archi- that in a school like IIT, which should work as
tect and the way he or she is educated has a platform, we should also try to take a posi-
dramatically changed. The whole idea of tion. This school will have a clear vision, and
interdisciplinary, let’s say, exchange, the fact we should understand that the architectural
that the computer was introduced, and the world, the world architecture is involved in,
fact that we went to the Moon has changed deals heavily with new challenges. And those
our education system, which was maybe local challenges are the city, the metropolis. We
only a few years ago, while now there is a have to find sustainable solutions for how to
global debate about architecture. build in these tense environments, and still try
to create products that permit people to feel
RM And so what would you define as the at home and at ease.
characteristics of an effective architectural But on the other hand the individual is
education today? able to make use of all the different quali-
ties of the city, the house, the museum, the
WA Today we are living in a time when every- library.… We have to understand that architec-
thing seems very dispersed. Thirty, fifty, even ture deals with the development of a product,
seventy years ago there was a clear view of and that product should have an identity with
what architecture education was; it was the the quality of the iPhone. That product must
polytechnic versus the academy, the engineer adapt to one programmatic condition but have
versus the artist. And I would say that since more than one method of use.
the 1980s architecture schools, due to the fact The big challenge for architectural edu-
that our vanishing points are diverse, haven’t cation is figuring out how to give students
taken one clear prospectus, but instead seem skills, ask the right questions, and determine
to be interested in a broader debate. It started how to prepare them for the profession. We

Nowness Nowness
26 know that half of the students at IIT’s College idea, and you produce something. It depends student architect and someone who is leav- something, it is maybe nature or the thing 27
of Architecture are American students, while on who is asking and who is answering; it is ing the school with a bachelor’s or master’s in front of the opaque wall. So what you see
the other half are international. This tells us about a critical dialogue. What you produce degree; the difference is that we have given is that the space tries to always be ready
something very important and challenging: the generates a question. And based on where the graduate the possibility to develop indi- for a new event. It is always ready for things
world is a global condition, but the world is not these questions are generated and in which vidual thoughts and skills alongside highly to happen that are not specific; it is always
only asking for one answer. Whether a student environment, the answers will be different qualified people. generating a new challenge. And that’s a big
is from Asia, North America, South America, ones. Slowly, the answers and the project will difference when compared to a lot of architec-
Europe, or Africa, they must be ready to under- become different, because the design process RM I think what’s implied in your answer to the ture, which is dominant, fixed, and where it’s
stand the nature of the global condition, while, is never linear. It’s a process in which you question is that schools do not exist because extremely difficult to raise a new question or to
on the other hand, building in Madrid, Tokyo, anticipate things to come. they already have the answer; they exist as a feel free to use a space in a different way. And
Rio, Accra, Chicago, and Beijing all still ask And what I believe very strongly is that in place for questions. And I think you’ve always I think that’s a very generous way of dealing
for local awareness. That’s a complexity in my an architectural school, or a condition like it, lead the profession through the example with a condition.
opinion. That’s a big challenge. we should not start by thinking that a student of your practice and in a similar way in the I have the feeling that a student working
knows nothing. I believe that from day one we schools, when you set the conceptual theme in this environment is constantly reminded of
RM I would argue that schools and the profes- have to understand that the student entering for the research studios that you directed the fact that—yes—body and mind are of great
sion are intrinsically connected—two sides of the school at seventeen or eighteen, enters at the Berlage Institute in Amsterdam and importance; the environment that you are
a coin where one compliments, but doesn’t IIT with knowledge. There is a skill within that Rotterdam. And I think for you a project is a working in stimulates you to work in a certain
duplicate, the other. Here at IIT, in this school, person, and there is an opinion. So we should proposition, a kind of provocation for further manner wherein the answer is important as
questions can be asked that are not so easily immediately take students seriously and treat thought, and not necessarily the definitive long as it generates a question. That’s what
or appropriately asked in the office or prac- each of them as a participant in the process, answer to the original question. Louis Kahn our lives are. Every single moment you come
tice. Yet, in my conversations with you over which in my opinion is an immediately profes- said, “A good question is much better than into a new setting. That different conditions
the last three years, I believe I can say that sional process. And this is a big difference the most brilliant answer. Because the good require you to play a certain role within the
you feel the very same questions need to be from the point of view that when a student question brings you back to the beginnings, public domain is, in my opinion, something we
asked in both the schools and the practices. enters a school their mind is completely blank. and we all begin to think in our own way.” And have to make students aware of. We have to
How do you describe the nature of the rela- And that’s why I believe in an educational, my question is how might a school like IIT be prepare students to rephrase their questions.
tionship between the architecture school and academic process, in which the dialogue is a structured so that it becomes a place where When students enter the school we will take
the architecture profession? key factor. The young architect, from day one, fundamental questions get asked and not a them seriously, but they must be challenged.
should be seen as a source of inspiration in place where people come assuming they will This will take place within Crown Hall.
WA I’m happy you phrase it like this because this school, and seen as someone from whom be given the answer? That’s exactly what the Berlage Institute
I believe that everyone should be a student the faculty can learn. There is an option for a did, and that’s exactly what I would like to bring
their whole life. You can do many things in the young architect, who leaves the school with WA When you understand that the question to IIT. After receiving their B.Arch., students
academic climate that you cannot do within the a bachelor’s or master’s degree, to work in is more important than the answer, that the can be part of the Master of Science program
larger non-academic world. I hope that in offic- a great firm around the world, and a young answer should be raising another question. at IIT Architecture in which we give young
es people ask themselves the same questions architect who, after his or her degree, begins As long as the answer raises another relevant architects the chance to test their ideas for
we ask ourselves in the academic condition. within the Master of Science program, and is question, the answer is appropriate. What a year, while we bring to the school people
That doesn’t mean that when you ask the same given the possibility to develop individual their Mies did was create a situation within which working on their thesis or first book or even
questions, the answers you give are the same. thoughts and skills alongside highly qualified things were possible. More than ever you first product. I believe that after five years of
In my opinion when you ask students to people. This horizontal program, this cloud in are aware of nature when you stand in this architectural education you can go into an
develop something according to a brief, the which the last semester of the bachelor and space—Crown Hall. You see what Mies did office and have the feeling that you are able to
result is probably a different result than if master programs are involved in, as well as with the split between the lower opaque win- perform and develop in an office. Or maybe you
you were to start with the same question, but the first semester of the Ph.D., will bind the dows and the windows on top, through which spend another year or two in another master’s
begin with a client. And the reason is that school and create a debate about the metrop- you look to the sky and to the trees. You see program researching and shaping your Ph.D.,
once you ask a question it generates some- olis and new technologies. Young architects that this lower opaque surface is a background which you can do at this school. During those
thing and you ask other questions. So what from outside IIT can also participate in this for events to occur against. So even when you years you can formulate your thoughts for the
you see is that in each design process there Master of Science program. Research, publi- work as a student or a teacher in this environ- first time in a more advanced condition. Or in
is an ongoing development of ideas and you cations, lectures, master classes, seminars, ment and look at this lower part, you are never the Master of Science you will be challenged
try to get a grip on what the project could be. and debates will be the core of architecture at distracted from things that are happening in an intense way, working full time on studio
You raise a question, you come up with an IIT. But there is a difference between a young outside. And when you are confronted with work. You can prepare yourself for the “real

Nowness Nowness
28 world,” with a good career, or you can prepare WA I think our time is different, and I would understand that this address challenges them environment, and world. It would be great 29
yourself for a Ph.D., which I think is very impor- demand from each professor here that each to come and take a position. I can’t give a bet- to announce at this very place, in 2015, the
tant. That’s happening in this building. student should have a clear position. What ter invitation to study here. This is a community first North American architect, and emerg-
So a young student who enters at 18 I refuse to do is say that this is my position ready for a new era. I’d like to make this place ing architect, to receive the Mies Crown Hall
sees people in the Master of Science pro- and students have to deal with that. This into the best laboratory for architecture within North America Prize; to establish this prize
gram sitting 60 feet away from him. What’s is IIT Architecture, and when we talk about the United States. That’s an open invitation for would be a challenge and a stimulating event
unique about IIT is that these conditions of the school—I’m happy to use both words—I do like people to have a debate here. I’m ready. for the global architectural discourse.
B.Arch. and M.Arch. and Master of Science to use the word laboratory, or research cen-
and Ph.D. programs are all under one roof. So ter, and that’s because schools and colleges SK You’ve spoken before about the impor- ST Mies was influential with students, of
each student will be in contact with everyone give students the impression that when they tance of Mies as one of the subjects in your course, because of his buildings. You will also
who gives lectures, teaches, etc. We will bring enroll, people have all the answers. But I want small library of great influences. Could you be influential because of what you’ve done,
these people into the school from America, students to come here eager to learn and with talk about the importance of Mies to your whether you like it or not. Once a year, Peter
but also from all over the globe. The people an open mind, enabling them to explore their work, and the ways in which your work differs? Eisenman invites me to his juries in New
who give lectures will be asked to phrase their ideas with fellow students, professors, and lec- Haven, in the winter, and Frank Gehry in the
lectures around the issues we are developing. tures. I want this school to be a laboratory that WA Mies is of course one of the most impor- spring. And when you go in the winter the kids
So let’s say Toyo Ito comes from Tokyo to give students can use to their potential to uncover tant architects of the last one hundred years. are little Eisenmans. And in the spring, they’re
a lecture on the Tsunami project he presented skills that they wouldn’t find somewhere else. But why? I think it has to do with scale. The little Frank Gehrys.
at the International Architecture Exhibition at This school should change every year, as the Modern Movement was about fitting the Your work has—albeit that it’s very reduc-
the Biennale in Venice. It’s an important and world is changing every year. We can’t bring body, and yet he gave the body more space. tive and to the point—it has an impact, no
serious thing that when Ito comes, we won’t new students in and tell them in five years Le Corbusier was talking about function- question. Students will look at it. And one can
ask him to come for two hours to lecture, but they’ll be like this. The desire to learn is more alism, yet Mies let the body relax and let expect to see a very minimalist approach to
instead we will invite him to come and sit and important than showing students specific architecture be something connected more things, which is actually the tradition of the
have a debate with us. When we ask David works. And we should be able to create an to nature than to the human condition. Mies place, of Mies.
Chipperfield about this year’s Biennale theme environment where students can come and test dealt with scale. And his whole life was about
of “Common Ground,” he’ll probably speak their ideas, developing them in such a way that developing seemingly simple yet very com- WA Students, I don’t want to say mimic, but
about his work but we can also challenge him they are receiving positive critiques and also plex conditions that he reused over and over they tend to look towards other students.
with questions. When Rem Koolhaas, Kazuyo receiving training they were unaware of. All of again. He understood that Classical architec- And rather than having them look to me or
Sejima, and Dominique Perrault come here, I’d this will happen at an address that’s, for me, ture, in its purest sense, had one main type architects like Peter Eisenman or Zaha Hadid,
like to challenge them rather than have them the most important architecture school in the from which all other components were devel- I would like them to mimic and look towards
present their work. There should be a dialogue world: Crown Hall. Once students have stepped oped. So he was not trying to reinvent the other students in this school.
with them. And the students should be able to into this building and taken the time to sit in wheel with every project. And in my opinion When you teach students to draw, you talk
participate heavily. We need to be interested in a chair in the space and look around at what’s this made his work very strong. But there’s about a signature. But the moment they do
what’s happening in Syria, China, and Angola, going on, we can make them aware that they also the element of material and craftsman- research they have to develop their own person-
but also be aware that we are in the most archi- should use their eye, but that seeing is think- ship. Although it seems you could copy Mies’s ality. I think for me at least it’s a kind of tactic:
tecturally oriented city in America: Chicago. ing, cutting, framing. We’re living in a time of work, you can’t. Every time Mies wasn’t com- out of research they’re going to develop their
The city of Chicago is one of the most interest- social media, computers, and information that pletely concentrated on a building, it was not own language. They’re going to develop their
ing conditions for an architectural debate. overwhelms us. Students should take time to the masterpiece that we would expect from own topics. And in the long run, I think that’s an
sit here and understand that their eyes should him. That intrigues me. interesting challenge for this place. I think that
capture those moments, and they should also I think Mies was a great thinker and a as young architects, it’s important that students
IIT, Mies, and Chicago try to understand how they digest their ideas master in scale. He was someone who under- are able to make a statement, to write a book,
within a building that’s always changing. stood that there has to be a distance between to really concentrate on their own work. If they
RM IIT is one of the only schools that for so This diversity under one roof—this gener- us and a building, just as there is a distance do this in a school where they have people like
long has circled around and confronted the osity—doesn’t exist anywhere else. It’s all here between us and nature. Today this is dwin- Stanley Tigerman, or Daniel Libeskind, or Rem
work of a modern master. It brings up the in one room separated by only a few wooden dling. When you read Mies’s texts, they were Koolhaas, or Zaha Hadid, or whoever, then
whole issue of what is a constructive way that walls. That condition is the best invitation for short and precise, and that makes him a mod- there’s going to be a debate in the school.
we can engage the legacy of the great makers all students around the world to come and el for all of us. Mies knew what architecture
of modern architecture, but also the contem- study here. It’s the best invitation for profes- was about, and he knew how the architec- ST Do you know the tradition of what hap-
porary makers? sional architects to come and study here. They tural product was part of our landscape, pened here when Mies came? If you don’t

Nowness Nowness
30 know, it’s a story you should know. When he not just its architecture community, and not Progressive Research what space there is within this outlook for local, 31
took over the school there was a retrograde, just here in Crown Hall or at IIT, but on the regional, and national identifications. How does
very conservative wing that hated him, of larger architecture community, and on the JR You invented the term “Progressive this fit into your idea of a global city?
course. He first came in 1937, and when he city. Your notion about research and how it Research” during your tenure at the Berlage
began in 1938 he and Ludwig Hilberseimer could intersect with different disciplines, I Institute from 1995-2002. Many American WA I strongly believe in the local and in differ-
and Walter Peterhans taught the first year would hope that would expand beyond this schools are now following your lead and using ences. Differences are more interesting than
students, and they gave up on the rest. They place—beginning with Chicago itself. research as a design approach. How would you sameness. The global city is full of connected
let it go. They cast it adrift, like put it in a define the term “research” and how has your neighborhoods. Flying from LA to Sydney in
lifeboat and set it off. They never bothered. WA IIT will be a school dealing with issues of definition of what constitutes research changed four hours is simply happening. The iPhone,
The next year, he still stayed with the first year the metropolitan area. It will deal with issues since your days at the Berlage Institute? the internet, and our stock markets connect
and Hilberseimer and Peterhans and Alfred related to Chicago and to the bigger metropo- us globally. We should understand we can
Caldwell took the second year students. And lis. I think we can learn from current events. WA When we talk about “Progressive learn from this and that we can be very care-
in five years it was a changed school entirely. In China, what happened over the last fifteen Research” as it was done at the Berlage ful about specific local identities. The notion
Mies understood that when he came here, and years is extremely interesting. Maybe it grew Institue, it’s important to mention that pre- of neighborhoods is very important to me.
he didn’t try to change the old guard. He just too quickly. And maybe they made decisions viously Ph.D. research in universities was The world is one big city, and its metropolises
took the first year students and made that the too fast. And maybe they didn’t. Either way, I seen as focusing on historical examples. could be considered as neighborhoods. Tokyo
school. That was a very different time. think we should challenge that. I would like to People looked at research as historical. Ph.D. could be seen as a neighborhood of the eco-
have debates here with many different people. research was not seen in architectural schools nomic Megapolis BeSoTo. Tokyo, with its 30
WA And a very small school. We will have master classes and seminars. as progressive in the sense that people would million inhabitants, has many neighborhoods,
But we should also understand there’s a come up with ideas that we could use to look each with their own identity. Here in Chicago,
ST It was a very small school for sure. It was kind of community in Chicago. There’s an forward, ideas in which risks were involved. I neighborhoods differ greatly. Sometimes one
a wholly different time, and we are talking American architectural community, which is thought that “Progressive Research” would only has to go around the corner for the city
about seventy years ago. extremely rich. This place could be a melting allow people to ask questions. It was not that to change, and other times one has to walk a
pot of a new architectural, let’s say, climate. we, as educators, thought that we knew all the half a mile. It’s good that we have differences.
WA I think we first have to understand that this One thing we should not do is create an answers and had to teach them to the stu- Right here in Crown Hall there are so many
place is not one school, and that it’s not one architectural school as an island for only aca- dents. We became students ourselves. I think people from different nations that all carry
thing. There are many different programs in IIT demic debate. IIT needs to have a debate with the idea of being a professor at a university different thoughts, experiences, and other dif-
Architecture. I think just as when Alvin went to the city of Chicago. We must bring the city of entails doing research with students, trying to ferences, and that’s the world we live in.
the AA, and just as when I went to the Berlage Chicago, and the world beyond, to this school. discover new things and trying to develop new
Institute, IIT is a new chapter in my life. So That’s also the way we should see an institu- ideas to use in the near future. The fact that we JR You’re something of an autodidact, setting
what I’m doing now is trying to talk to every- tion like this—as an open house. The school, asked questions not knowing what the answers up your own exhibitions and lectures during
one. I’m talking to the entire faculty. I’m trying the IIT campus, is a brilliant place. And since should be and the fact that we were looking for your time as a student. In the past you’ve
to understand the structure of the school. I 1970, no new academic building has been interdisciplinary discourse was, at that time, a noted that some of the great architects, like
am speaking with the trustees, the community built here. Now there’s a big challenge to build relatively new approach. And I think the main Mies and Le Corbusier and Wright, were all
of Chicago, as well as Phyllis Lambert, Rem a new building: the Innovation Center, housing idea of academic research is that we, with our self-trained. So, essentially, if you believe
Koolhaas, and Cardinal Peter Turkson. workshops and media labs. I think there’s a students, develop new strategies, ideas, and that architects are self-taught, how does that
This semester the school is running the big challenge here at IIT and the surround- instrumental thoughts that the students who inform your views on architectural education
way it has previously run. I think, though, we ing area to develop this into an area where, leave IIT can take with them into the world, and the role of the architecture school?
have to start changing the curriculum. We besides IIT, many people could work and live. knowing that they’re now specialists in their
have to start changing the way the school is I think by increasing the density of this area field. When they leave school they know the WA I believe that the seven hundred or more
organized. I think we have to start looking to over the next five or ten years, this could be complexity of what the world is about; they people who are in this room all have their own
compose and develop a new school. Maybe in developed as an interesting new condition become the authorities, the experts. dreams and careers in mind. We should not try
one or two years we’ll know exactly where within Chicago. So we should concentrate on to create seven hundred people who all have
it’s heading. this area, the campus. This campus could be SK Shifting, let’s say, to the content of that the same thoughts and all move in the same
the site for the Chicago Architectural Biennale research, I know that urbanism has been direction. I believe that we should have inten-
ST I am a Chicago booster. I love Chicago. I in 2015; it would be great to make it an ongo- important for you for many years and recently sive debates with professors and students
was born here. And I’m hoping that there will ing and changing giardino, with additional you’ve been articulating this in your idea of “A of completely different backgrounds. But we
be ways you can have an impact on Chicago, challenging programs. Wonderful World”—the global city. I wonder also have to create a topic that we all have in

Nowness Nowness
32 common, for instance the city and everything
connected to it—businesses, infrastructure,
people, architecture and the way we make it
for only a short moment and more than 7 billion
people live on the globe today. We should give
back what we’re taking from the world, in terms
Wiel Arets, Inaugural Address 33

—and appreciate the fact that every individual

within this collective school has the right to
develop themselves in their own direction. I
of knowledge. In that sense, the autobiographi-
cal is very important for me. as Dean of Architecture at IIT,
believe that on one hand students should deal
with the curriculum we present them with, and
on the other I hope that they step back and try
JR You once said that, “Architects need to
risk something to be a part of the deal.” This,
to me seems very apropos of our time, as
13 March 2013
to learn and have an opinion through self-edu- architects keep getting pushed further and
cation. I believe in these parallel programs. further into the margins of the profession.
On the one hand students are part of this What do you feel architects need to risk los-
community, which is the school, and on the ing, and what do you feel there is to gain?
other they can also have their own interests
and develop them. I think these two parts lead WA In a time where we are so seemingly rich,
to people like Picasso, Le Corbusier, Mies, and everyone thinks they educate themselves,
and Wright. I believe that we have to share, open a practice, and then let it grow; we
but also cultivate differences. should take the luxury of sitting down to take
And that’s that I’m trying to say when I risks and do research. Believe in what you’re
talk about the autodidactical approach. The doing and try to also be in doubt and try to
autobiographical is about rereading your own take risks in the sense of testing something.
biography and reflecting on what you did and Research has to do with risks, and with not
what you can learn from yourself. You can going along the beaten path. We are in a time
learn from colleagues, but you can also learn when technology is so important as a techni-
from what you’ve done in the past and what cal thing, but also intellectually—it has two
you want to do. Jean Luc Godard said, “Do parts. We should not only try things we know
what you can, with what you have, where you but look for new uncovered ground. We are in
are.” You can learn from what you can do. And an academic situation here, which helps us.
these, let’s say, skills you have to cultivate. The academy is the laboratory for testing.
Misreading helps to develop something new.
JR To follow up on the notion of the autobio- And taking risks helps to discover new things.
graphical, what advice would you give students That’s a challenge that’s part of life for me as
here in terms of tapping into their own autobi- an architect, but also as the dean of archi-
ographies as a source for their work? tecture at IIT in the metropolis of Chicago.
I don’t believe in a place like this as a school
WA For example, Curzio Malaparte, born Kurt where we can teach what we think we know. We
Erich Suckert, was an journalist, novelist, and have to tell our students that they should learn
diplomat, and he built a house on the island their history and theory, and, from that, learn
of Capri that he called “Casa Come Me”—a and search for new things, be challenging and
house like me. And I think in the end we all build innovative. And we have to make the students
our own autobiographical stories. Everything here aware that they should train themselves
you produce is autobiographical, and a writer in the autodidactic sense, but that they should
or a painter cannot write or paint without this also learn about the discipline and absorb the
method and reflection of the self, complimented knowledge they need before going out into the
with knowledge. I believe that we cannot make world and taking risks.
architecture in a non-subjective way. I would
advise students to read everything as a mirror JR And we certainly look forward to taking
and try to rewrite their own thoughts. We live risks with you here at IIT.

Nowness Nowness
34 Being a stranger is a preferable Architecture today entails Potential is the wealth of We are living in an era of rapid 35

condition. It enables the relaxing entering a dialogue with multiple meaning that architecture offers transition.
of preconceptions, to absorb, to disciplines. It is related, more with each new reading; it is the Information technology today
learn. than ever before, to technological activity that makes space for the is based on translating codes;
A stranger’s status is one of innovation. Technology today is unutterable, the uncertain, and electronic impulses are turned
freshness, enjoying the privilege exposed and presents a certain the immaterial, taking the place into images; magnetic material is
of seeing difference within society, danger; we believe technology can of beauty in the conventional decoded into data.
where sameness is said to be the solve everything, even as larger approach. During this transformation
current condition. frameworks are unfocused. The manner in which archi- of logistics, connections will at
The College of Architecture at Within such a context, we see tecture can be understood as a times go wrong: we should accept
the Illinois Institute of Technology that the history of architecture— potential, could also be used to interruptions and welcome conflict
fosters this status of the stranger; and that of other, once new fields describe a freer architecture; an as indispensable elements of
it encourages the seeing of such as cinema—is a history of the architecture that is more open, communication.
differences. arbitrary coagulation of thoughts. more prepared for the unexpected, Communicable forces cre-
New students and faculty come When we speak of history, we possessing greater purity while ate concepts in relation to their
to this institute from all over the are not discussing linear events. submitting itself to painstaking context.
world. They are newcomers, for We are discussing a history of scrutiny. Now is the time to conceive
the most part, to the metropolis of possibilities. We no longer see the world, ar- new strategies; now is the time
Chicago—our point of reference We should instead speak of a chitects, and their creations as an for opportunities of innovation;
for investigations into rethinking dependent reality, dependent upon all-embracing whole. This mode and now is the time to create
metropolises and the contempo- our angle of approach, as our ap- of perception has been replaced new technological products and
rary issues they face. proach constantly changes. Order, by the freedom of discourse. This processes.
Every student carries wisdom discipline, knowledge, and direc- open totality could be understood Society is progressing faster
from previous generations. Over tion will organize today’s tangled as a macchina: there is activity— than ever before, and our relation-
time, both known and unknown technological confusion. energeia—which attends to mental ship to the environment has never
masters developed technologi- We must question today’s and material combinations, as well been more challenged than it is
cal standards. Because of this, condition of the nomad. as the work—or ergon—itself. today.
we can reflect and build upon the We must question while also Noise versus noiselessness, and How to develop new
achievements of Egypt, Greece, providing stability, as freedom imperfection versus perfection, prototypes?
and Rome, as well as the ideas never flourishes without rules. must be accepted as essential How to develop new typolo-
brought forth by the Renaissance. Freedom without rules implies a elements of today’s technological gies? And how to challenge our
We can learn from the traditional lack of freedom. But freedom is process. Architecture is only one discipline to create a zero-energy
architecture of Japan, developed only a synonym for emptiness, and of the details that together create metropolis? Architecture has
during periods of prolonged emptiness a synonym for potential; disorder. become a global issue.
isolation. potential a synonym for feast of the We should not attempt to de- All this, while “Rethinking
Yet today is a time of monu- mind; feast a synonym for dialogue; fine control in an all-encompass- Metropolis”.
mental change, so we must find and dialogue a synonym for asking ing way, but instead make possible More than ever before, tech-
the logic belonging to our time. questions and making choices. an architecture of freedom. nological developments have
Our world will only continue to Freedom represents the perfect There are no more boundaries, reshaped our perception of the
shrink in size. dialogue and never banal luxury. no eternal forms. world.

Nowness Nowness
36 How will architecture react to How will this effect the devel- 37

these developments? opment of the new airplane?

We must hypothesize strate- What will be the role of the
gies that support the development car—one of the most exciting in-
of a new environment, while surf- ventions of the twentieth century—
ing on the advancements of other within tomorrow’s metropolis?
disciplines. What will be—within “Rethinking
These new strategies will Metropolis”—the role of
challenge students and faculty, production?
allowing for the discovery of multi- What will be the role of tourism
disciplinary crossroads. and the museum?
“Rethinking Metropolis” will be What will be the role of shop-
our strategic device. ping, and the body hotel?
We will conduct research; we Will innovation become a major
will analyze existing phenomena; topic of the shrinking local-global
we will learn from new trends. world?
We have to find a new order. Will education, the university,
We will develop questions about and research become main activi-
the roles of architecture and ties for the future metropolis?
urbanism, and our research will The College of Architecture at
speculate on the support that new the Illinois Institute of Technology
conditions will require. in Chicago provides a platform for
How will we invent a new city- questioning the architectural dis-
type, on a new city-site, with a new cipline at the dawn of a new age,
idea of living-working-playing- encouraging childlike curiosities
shopping-relaxing-learning-com- to be explored, and, along the way,
municating? reshaping, rewriting, and rethink-
In what ways will we deal with ing metropolises.
making; with the development of
new materials; with innovations
on many levels that challenge our
students and faculty?
What questions can be raised
about infrastructure and the con-
nections it enables within our new
map of the world?
Our world will become one big
city, with individual cities function-
ing as neighborhoods, each with
their own regional identity.

Nowness Legacy
38 39

Legacy Legacy
40 41

Legacy Legacy
42 43

Legacy Legacy
44 The Fifth Element, not been planned. Jpeg ny02, storage capacity
Luc Besson, 1997 It is an informal Thomas Ruff, 2004 that is much greater
environment in which than that of the
people survive and human brain. Some
accomplish feats they say that by 2030 the
have never dreamed computer will also
of before. This have more creative
“Garbage City” rep- capacity than the hu-
45
resents the strength man brain. Perhaps
of human nature, by 2050 the com-
demonstrating that Thomas Ruff manip- puter will be able to
it can and will be as ulates images that reproduce itself. We
The three dimen- strong as necessary he has collected from have created some-
sional city of today, to survive within such other sources in or- thing to help us, and
when confronted a chaotic state. der to read them dif- now find that it has
with movement, ferently. The photos the potential to be-
becomes a four are taken separately come superior to us.
dimensional city. Tokyo Highways, from one another This shows that our
As new technologies Unknown and certain colors world is getting fur-
add layers of virtual are repositioned ther and further out
information, we can in order to evoke of our control and is
say that other distinct emotions. If no longer directed by
dimensions are in- we want to develop a singular force.
troduced. Could new a new definition of
or existing materials what cities and cul-
also harbor multiple tures are and could
dimensions? If so, be, we must look to
they could help us The 1964 Summer other disciplines to
discover and create Olympics were the discover new tools.
the city and metrop- reason that infra- This interdisciplinary
olis of tomorrow. structure, in a radical collaboration is cur-
way, became part of rently being explored
the city of Tokyo—a by, for instance, film
Garbage City, green human-scaled directors, who are
Bas Princen, 2009 metropolis with using new tools to
distinctive neigh- transform the image
borhoods, which all of society and how
developed their own we experience it.
identity. With a lim- How should the ar-
ited amount of rules, chitectural discipline
the urban landscape react towards the
changes every day. civilization we are
This seems to be living within?
In Cairo there exists the basic condition
what is called the allowing the creation
“Garbage City”. It of an equilibrium Robots,
exemplifies the fact that at first glance Unknown
that planned cities seems like a chaotic,
will never be used the dense, vast agglom-
way they are planned, eration of buildings,
and that earlier ideas each different from
will always be trans- the next, with each
formed by current built at a respectful
human behavior and distance.
circumstance. Similar
to the urban condi-
tion of Rio de Janeiro,
with its favelas, the Since humans devel-
“Garbage City” is a oped the computer,
landscape that has it has developed a

Legacy Programs of Study

Bachelor of Programs
Architecture
of Study
Master of
Architecture

Master of
Landscape
Architecture

Master of
Science in
Architecture

Ph.D. in
Architecture
Urbanization of the planet is the dominant issue confronting
architects in the coming decades. Half of the world’s popula-
tion is now urban, and the proportion of people living in cities
is increasing every day. How will architects respond to the
needs of a mobile and changing society? What physical chang-
es to the city do these new patterns of urbanization imply? The 49

IIT College of Architecture prepares students to confront the

challenges and explore the opportunities presented by growing
urbanization. Across all of its degree programs, the school is a
laboratory devoted to exploring the forces that shape the built
environment in the contemporary world and to developing, by
means of research and design, alternative models and new
insights that will have a transformative impact on the world’s
built environment.
The IIT College of Architecture is one of the largest and
most international architecture schools in the United States.
With over 800 students from fifty countries and more than
100 faculty members, the school itself represents the global
metropolis in miniature. Within this richly diverse context,
students learn to define themselves as they progress through
the curriculum, working toward ever greater levels of inde-
pendence in their research, writing, and design. Beyond the
college, the Chicago metropolitan area provides the inspiration
and the test ground for our work, allowing students to learn in
the context of one of the world’s greatest metropolises.
Within the college, the centrality of the metropolis is
reflected in our innovative “horizontal studio”—a school-wide
course in which students from all degree programs work to-
gether on research and design topics related to the metropolis.
These topics will be further defined by yearly themes that will
shape the program of visiting teachers and lecturers, so that
the horizontal studio will offer a chance for students to be
taught directly by some of the world’s leading architects. By
combining advanced professional students (B.Arch., M.Arch.,
and M.L.A.) with those in the post-professional programs
(M.S. and Ph.D.), the horizontal studio also provides a chance
for students to experience other modes of studying and work-
ing on the built environment, and the opportunity for some
to define themselves by moving into one of these advanced
degree program.

Programs of Study
 This renewed focus on the metropolis is an extension and making. Because architecture is not merely vision, but also
reinterpretation of IIT’s legacy. Like most modernists, our vision realized, the architect must possess real expertise in
founding Ludwigs—Mies van der Rohe and Hilberseimer— means of construction, in building technology, in representa-
were urban visionaries, imagining new cities from the scale of tion, and in the histories and theories of architecture itself.
furniture to that of regional planning. IIT’s own campus, and Amidst new patterns of urbanization and technological ad-
50 much of mid-century Chicago, is the product of their ideas. vance, and against the backdrop of a changing profession, IIT 51

Yet, where this earlier vision was directed toward a singular is still a place where how a thing is made matters—whether it
form of urban order, we are now interested in exploring the be a door, a building, or a city.
diversity of the future metropolis.
At the same time, the profession of architecture is chang-
ing, due to forces both internal and external. Developments
in technology offer architects new representational tools that
change the way projects are conceived. Digital fabrication
tools provide architects new means of realizing their projects
and suggest a future in which architects move between the
studio and the shop, working side-by-side with fabricators to
make their visions a reality. IIT’s programs prepare students
to take command of these new technologies and forge a future
that embraces new modes of thinking and making.
While technology is reshaping architecture from within, the
profession is also being affected by external forces. Economic
factors and changes in project delivery are upsetting tradition-
al power structures within the industry, while the increasing
complexity of building projects is leading toward specializa-
tion within the field and the creation of new alliances.
Within this rapidly-changing environment, architects of
tomorrow will have to be agile and nimble, carving their own
paths through the profession and authoring their own careers.
The architecture degree programs at IIT stress research,
analysis, and synthesis as the means to prepare students
for an expanding disciplinary field in which resourcefulness,
critical thinking, and the ability to seize opportunity and new
territories of intervention will be rewarded. Facing the future
challenges of the profession, and of the world at large, the es-
sential capabilities of thought and communication become not
less, but more essential to an architectural education.
As IIT focuses on a future of global urbanism and instills
in its students a profound awareness of the changing world
around them, it also acknowledges what does not change,
remaining true to its legacy as a place of rigorous thinking and

Programs of Study Programs of Study

 IIT Architecture’s new curriculum is structured directly by some of the world’s leading archi-
around our innovative “horizontal studio”— tects. By combining advanced professional
a school-wide educational and research students (B.Arch., M.Arch., and M.L.A.) with
laboratory in which students from all degree those in the post-professional programs
Bachelor of programs work together on research and (M.S. and Ph.D.), the horizontal studio pro-
Architecture design topics related to the metropolis. These vides a chance for students to experience
52 Courses Studios topics will be further defined by yearly themes other modes of studying and working on the 53
that will shape the program of visiting teach- built environment, and the opportunity for
Element ers and lecturers, so that the horizontal studio some to define themselves by moving into one
Elements

will offer a chance for students to be taught of these advanced degree program.
Element
Core

Master of Master of Landscape

Single
Architecture Architecture
Single Courses Studios Courses Studios

Hybrid Element Ecology

Buildings

Hybrid Single Site

Core

Core
Institutional Hybrid System

Master of Science Ph.D.

Institutional Institutional Infrastructure Architecture* Architecture
Electives

Electives
Electives

Metropolis Metropolis Metropolis Courses Studios Courses

Cities

Metropolis Metropolis Metropolis Metropolis Metropolis

Core

Core
Thesis

Electives
Thesis

Electives

Dissertation
* Includes Master of Integrated Building Delivery and
M.S. with a specialization in Sustainable New Cities.

Programs of Study Programs of Study

 Bachelor The program begins with an introduction
to the history of architecture and to the
contemporary profession, helping students
The fourth year of the studio sequence is
focused on comprehensive building design.
Here, students consider contemporary build-

of Architecture understand the variety of paths that their

architectural education could follow. Initial
studio assignments develop communication
ing practices in a more in-depth manner that
stresses the integration of structure, envelope,
and building systems into a unified whole.
54 skills—verbal, graphic, and written—that Studio assignments are large institutional 55
enable students to navigate their field while buildings in the city with more complex pro-
also introducing them to the elements that grams and students are asked to consider the
comprise architecture—surface, wall, door, nature of how such institutions interface with
opening, stair, room. With an emphasis on the urban environment. How does the institu-
how things are made, students will be asked tion engage the city in a dialogue? What is
to consider fundamental questions: What changed or activated by its presence? What
is a door? How does its making inform its does the building say about its urban context?
design? How does its design impact the wall Finally, the fifth year is focused on urban
surrounding it? This initial period culminates design and is more speculative in nature.
in the design of a small structure encom- Students select from a menu of studio
passing all of the elements explored in the options and work side-by-side with Master
preceding exercises. of Architecture, Master of Science, and
In the second year, studio assignments Ph.D. degree candidates in research-based,
center on urban dwelling via the study of a forward-looking studios that speculate on
small house in the city. The student is intro- the city of the future. What is our vision of an
duced to fundamental aspects of building: urban future? What is the role of the architect
space, structure, materials, and construc- in its realization? These and other questions
Leading to a professional degree, tion. Students begin by researching historical are explored in studios, related coursework,
the Bachelor of Architecture program precedents and analyzing how the concept of and special seminars that focus on the emerg-
living in the city has changed over time, and ing issues of the global city organized by a
is centered on a studio sequence
proceed with a study of contemporary issues yearly theme under the umbrella of “The New
that increases in complexity as the and building methods that will inform their Metropolis.” This yearly theme binds the
student advances over the course design. Driven by informed speculation, this studios together thematically, and underpins
of five years, proceeding from the period concludes with an exercise in imagin- the discourse of IIT Architecture. Lectures,
basic elements of architecture, ing the home of the future. How will changing symposia, exhibitions and master classes all
demographics and family patterns affect the intersect with this theme and, together with
to buildings, and then to the city.
home of the future? What impact will climate the advanced studios, define IIT’s position
In addition to design studios, the change have on how we live? within the discipline of Architecture and con-
curriculum of required and elective The third year of design studios introduce stitute its statement to the world at large.
courses includes architectural history more complex sites and programs in the study
and theory, building technologies, of multiple and hybrid buildings in the city.
Students move beyond the single building
structures, representation, and pro-
to consider the spaces between buildings,
fessional practice, as well as a range infrastructural elements, and neighborhoods.
of courses beyond architecture that Initial research phases are followed by stu-
form a well-rounded undergraduate dio assignments that include the design of
education. mixed-use buildings with hybrid structures,
and projects comprised of multiple building
elements. Students explore the architect’s role
in the making of a neighborhood and end with
a project on the neighborhood of the future.

Programs of Study Programs of Study

 Master of Depending upon their previous education,
students enter the Master of Architecture pro-
gram for either a full sequence of three years
spaces between buildings, infrastructural
elements, and neighborhoods. More complex
sites and programs are introduced through

Architecture or, with advanced standing, begin in the sec-

ond year of this sequence. The curriculum of
required and elective courses includes design
the study of mixed-use buildings with hybrid
structures and projects comprised of multiple
building elements. Students explore the archi-
56 studios, architectural history and theory, build- tect’s role in the making of a neighborhood 57
ing technologies, structures, representation, and end with a project considering the neigh-
and professional practice. Design studios, borhood of the future.
which are at the heart of the program, follow a Students are introduced to contemporary
sequence of increasing complexity, proceed- building practices in a more in-depth manner
ing from the basic elements of architecture, to during the fourth semester in comprehensive
buildings, and finally to the city. building design studios that stress the inte-
In the first semester students are intro- gration of structure, envelope, and building
duced to the history of architecture through systems. Studio projects are large institu-
precedent study and by an introduction to the tional buildings in the city with more complex
elements that comprise a building. Studio programs. Students are asked to consider the
projects focus on the design of the funda- nature of how such institutions interface with
mental elements of architecture—walls, the urban environment. How does the institu-
doors, windows, stairs, rooms—and also on tion engage with and shape the city? What
developing students’ core communication urban possibilities are altered or activated by
skills—verbal, graphic, and written. Students its presence?
will be asked to consider fundamental ques- The final year of the Master program asks
tions: What is an enclosure? What is an students to speculate on the future of the
What is our vision of an urban future? opening? How do the two interact and mutu- city through advanced, research-based urban
What is the role of the architect in its ally define each other? How do materiality and design studios that focus on the emerging
construction methods inform design? The first issues of the global city. In this year, students
realization? These and other ques-
semester brings all of these elements together are presented with a variety of studio options
tions are explored in the final studios, in the design of a small structure. to choose from, and in the final semester work
related coursework, and special Expanding scale and context, the sec- side-by-side with advanced students from the
seminars that focus on the emerging ond semester of the program introduces Bachelor of Architecture, Master of Science,
issues of the global city organized students to the fundamental aspects of build- and Ph.D. programs in speculating on the
ing—space, structure, materials—which are future of the urban condition. (Students wish-
by a yearly theme under the umbrella
explored through designing a small house ing to continue with more advanced work on
of “The New Metropolis.” This yearly in the city. Students begin by researching these topics may apply for the M.S. program.)
theme binds the studios together the- historical precedents and analyzing how the
matically, and underpins the discourse concept of living in the city has changed over
of IIT Architecture. Lectures, sympo- time, and proceed with a study of contem-
porary issues and building methods that will
sia, exhibitions and master classes
inform their design. This period concludes
all intersect with this theme and, with an exercise in imagining the home of the
together with the advanced studios, future. Driven by informed speculation, we
define IIT’s position within the disci- ask: How will changing demographics and
pline of Architecture and constitute its family patterns affect the future of domestic
life? What impact will climate change have on
statement to the world at large.
how we house ourselves?
In the third semester students move
beyond the single building to consider the

Programs of Study Programs of Study

 Master of Landscape Global urbanization has systematically
altered the Earth’s planetary ecosystems both
within cities and across vast territories that
decision making among our students to meet
the uncertain challenges of 21st century global
urbanization. Within the context of a chang-

Architecture are continually exploited for materials and

resources. The IIT landscape architecture
program aims to teach landscape architects
ing and rapidly developing planet, we strive to
teach students how to learn, so that students
will continue to nimbly and willingly apply core
58 to engage small and large scale Landscapes research and design skills, tactics and prac- 59
of Urbanization through a rigorous training in tices to new situations and new paradigms,
geographic, ecological, and landscape infra- developing new outcomes.
structural systems. Attention is given both to Among American cities, Chicago presents
regenerative landscape design at a planetary unique opportunities to test and celebrate the
level and to shaping urban landscapes that potential of urban environments to transform
support ecological, infrastructural, and human conditions of crisis into promise, neglect into
health functions. Not merely a discussion of value, and banality into poetry. IIT Landscape
ecological restoration, the scale of our work is Architecture filters our design and research
formally large and operationally intense. interests through two key landscape frame-
Design training within the program is based on works offered by our setting:
understanding landscape’s ability to address The Great Lakes Basin: The program
climate change, urbanization, population places a focus on studying the mega-region of
shifts, and resource organization and distri- the Great Lakes, including its natural systems;
bution. Drawing on landscape architecture’s water resources and networks; economic,
range of work—from urban gardens to regional social and political histories and conditions;
planning—our students explore the design production landscapes; and infrastructural
of landscape networks for food production, systems. The shifts in urbanization and rela-
More than ever, the world needs more hydrologic systems, forest systems, mobility tionships across this region, combined with
informed, more innovative, and more infrastructures, and public recreation. These the potential to revive established networks
landscape reconfigurations will define how we through new configurations, make the area
critically involved landscape archi-
reoccupy territories as productive landscapes a critical test laboratory for ecological land-
tects. Population growth, changing for social, cultural, and economic outcomes. scape urbanism on a broad scale.
climate, and continued depletion of Within this broader ecological context, the Chicago Landscape Laboratory: Crossing
natural resources call into ques- program places great attention on the experi- ecological boundaries at a range of scales,
tion received planning and design ential aspects of the public realm by focusing Chicago serves as a microcosm of the global
on the quality of the urban pedestrian envi- ecological situation. Understanding Chicago’s
methods. Landscape architects have
ronment. Materiality, scale, human comfort, future relies on understanding the fundamen-
emerged among design professionals visual beauty, and cultural relevance are criti- tal landscape relationships across the city.
to lead the understanding, organiza- cal factors in the improvement of urban life. The landscape architecture program extends
tion, reclamation, and re-imagining of The development and integration of ecological its research and design inquiries beyond
our cities to meet the challenges of beauty at a range of scales—from site to city historic gardens and parks to research aban-
to region and beyond—is of paramount impor- doned infrastructure landscapes, the Chicago
our future.
tance. In the context of Chicago’s historical River, vacant neighborhood lots, and indus-
and regional landscape aesthetic, we strive trial lands as opportunities for intervention
to understand, reinforce, and discover formal and regeneration.
and visual potential through the integration
of ecological design with a highly constructed
urban landscape.
Finally, in addition to developing design
and technical excellence, a core tenet of the
program and school lies in cultivating skillful

Programs of Study Programs of Study

 Master of Science in The discipline of architecture can no longer
rely on received ideas, established typologies,
or fashionable design methodologies. Today
this, the program must be global. The new
Master of Science program therefore seeks
to collaborate with colleagues and institu-

Architecture the challenge of education at all levels is to

embrace our generational transformations,
and to engage them in such a way as to create
tions worldwide in a collective commitment to
shared knowledge and expertise.
This global program is especially well situ-
60 new knowledge. The new Master of Science ated within the ever-transforming metropolis 61
program provides an intellectual climate in of Chicago, a city that provides both the
which to reflect upon the forces shaping the testing ground and the variegated fabric for
contemporary world and their implications for the program’s initiatives. Working with gov-
architecture, landscape, and urbanism. With ernmental agencies and other public as well
a dual commitment to research and reality, as private constituencies, this program will
we are aware of the imposing nature of the achieve a high degree of reality and immediacy
problem at hand, as well as of the degree of uncommon within academia, while providing
understanding that is needed simply to mea- partnered agencies with a valuable resource
sure or fathom its depth. Through design, for exploring issues of crucial importance.
the program seeks out and experiments Research trajectories will vary each semester,
with alternative models for constructing the but the unifying thread will be the commitment
built environment. Engaged with the real-life to forge new models, visions, and principles
conditions represented by public authorities, that better fit with emerging technologies,
cultural institutions, and private entities, the new biological insights, and the changing
curriculum insists upon continuous exchange nature of the metropolis. The goal is to find
and debate. the right balance between social and eco-
The new Master of Science program nomic sustainability on the one hand, and, on
Global urbanization, the proliferation seeks to be synthetic and inter-disciplinary in the other, the creation of a living environment
of information technologies, and rapid its approach. In contrast to an increasingly in which the individual will both prosper and
compartmentalized design profession divided thrive. The program and the student must have
advances in the human sciences are
into disparate realms of expertise, which often no lesser ambition.
among the most visible trends of diminish the designer’s role, the program The Master of Science in Architecture is a
the first decades of the 21st century. endeavors to sharpen critical thinking through three semester program (including one sum-
Around the world habitats continue to collaborative and experimental working pro- mer semester) that allows students emerging
evolve into novel “post-city” formations, cesses. The intensive three-semester program from B.Arch. and M.Arch. programs to earn
(including summer semester) is structured a master’s degree with a research focus by
generating new paradoxes and rede-
around two design-based research studios, an continuing their studies. For some students
fining the role of the architect. As the individual or collective thesis project, history the program may also lead to further studies
skilled artificer of the built environment, and theory seminars, and two master classes. and research in the Ph.D. program. Organizing
the architect must come to terms with The College of Architecture’s colloquia, the performance of the “Horizontal Studio” in
these new realities. IIT’s new Master lectures, and exhibitions expand upon and which students from all programs interact in a
augment the curriculum. laboratory of design-based research projects,
of Science in Architecture program po-
More inclusive than traditional architec- supported by seminars, lectures, workshops,
sitions its investigations in the space tural design, yet more form-oriented than and master classes by visiting luminaries, the
opened up between emerging forms of conventional urban planning, our urban-based program is the pivot point of IIT Architecture’s
urbanization and existing concepts of design program requires the insights of other new curriculum.
architecture, landscape, and cities. Our disciplines. Striving for experimental and
exploratory methods demands provocative
goal is to develop new and better mod-
discourse, distrust of earlier approaches,
els for shaping socially, culturally, and and the creative invention of new forms for
ecologically sustainable environments. housing vitality and life. In order to achieve

Programs of Study Programs of Study

 Doctor of Philosophy The Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in
Architecture Program is for those who desire
to pursue careers in academia and/or in
Like all of the degree programs at the
IIT College of Architecture, the teaching
and research of the Ph.D. program grows

in Architecture research-based professional practice. As the

most advanced academic degree, the Ph.D.
recognizes both the highest level of expertise
out of the school’s collective focus on the
new metropolis and a shared commitment
to “progressive research”—that is, research
62 and the production of significant novel work. both grounded in the realities of the workplace 63
The program demands a deep understanding and devoted to contesting existing values
of architecture’s history and its contemporary and ideologies. Doctoral students therefore
intellectual terrain, a command of advanced participate in the experiments of the design
research methodologies, and a commitment studios and later help guide these efforts in
to critical inquiry that extends its frontiers. mentoring roles. As a base, Chicago provides
The program begins with advanced course a uniquely important and dense collection of
work and culminates in a dissertation that is sites, buildings, archives, institutions, and
the result of extensive, original, and rigorous practices to support and inform this work.
research and thought. At the same time, our Ph.D. students and
Students are expected to enter the pro- faculty are expected to be global citizens
gram with a preliminary research trajectory at the highest levels, engaged in academic
already established—though it is understood and professional exchanges throughout the
that this may be revised during the first years world—bringing their local expertise to us and
of study—and, typically, with advanced training projecting outward the insights gained here
in architecture or a related field—though here in Chicago. The new publication program at
too there may by exceptional cases. Because IIT Architecture will play an important role in
of the nature of doctoral work, it is essential dispersing through the world the work being
As the most advanced academic that there is a strong relationship between the done by our students.
degree, the Ph.D. recognizes both research plans of entering students and the
expertise of the current tenured/tenure-track
the highest level of expertise and the
faculty—prospective students should carefully
production of significant novel work. consider with whom they would work and how
The program demands a deep under- the research interests of students and faculty
standing of architecture’s history and could be mutually productive.
its contemporary intellectual terrain, Because advanced academic work is
international, it is expected that students
a command of advanced research
will have knowledge of languages other
methodologies, and a commitment to than English—and self-evidently must have
critical inquiry that extends its fron- knowledge of the languages relevant to their
tiers. Like all of the degree programs research topics—but, because IIT’s working
at the IIT College of Architecture, the language is English, students must also have
English language skills of the highest caliber.
teaching and research of the Ph.D.
For all of our students, architectural
program grows out of the school’s col- history and theory play an essential role.
lective focus on the new metropolis Understood critically, history and theory do
and a shared commitment to “pro- not simply strive for knowledge of the past,
gressive research”—that is, research but provide a path to examine the fundamental
presuppositions of the present. Conversely,
both grounded in the realities of the
the trained historian-critic always keeps one
workplace and devoted to contesting eye on the present while revealing new per-
existing values and ideologies. spectives on the past.

Programs of Study Programs of Study

64 65

Programs of Study Programs of Study

66 67

Programs of Study Programs of Study

68 69

Programs of Study Programs of Study

70 71

Programs of Study Programs of Study

 Global
72
Network

Public Programs
Publications
Study Abroad
CTBUH
Mies North America Prize
Morgenstern Visiting Chair
Innovation Center
Mies van der Rohe Society
Programs of Study
Architecture today is practiced within a global context. Ideas, images, tech-
niques, and individuals flow throughout the world more rapidly than ever
before. Increasingly, the clients of architecture are also global: international
companies and organizations operating in many cities and shaped by an in-
terconnected global economy. So when building activity plummets in Spain,
Spanish architects begin working en masse in China. This global outlook is
no longer just for a handful of “star” architects, but for all—and especially
for students and younger architects who have the flexibility to move easily,
working in, and learning from, a wide range of situations. We are commit-
ted to providing our students with the fundamental skills and knowledge to
succeed within this global community. 75

We also have a core belief that IIT Architecture must be a leading

participant in the global network, and that all of us—faculty, students, staff,
guests—should be constantly pursuing exchanges that make connections
from Chicago to the world and back again. Guests—speakers, teachers,
students, exhibitions—must come to us; and we must go out to the world
via travel, teaching exchanges, study abroad, publications, and exhibitions
of our own. All of these must be active, two-way exchanges based in immer-
sion, fieldwork, debate, and collaboration—not the passive presentation of
one person to another, but the productive struggle to create collective and
ongoing projects throughout the world.
IIT Architecture will rely strongly on its extensive global network of IIT
ambassadors and alumni, as well as international institutions seeking col-
laboration, academic exchanges, and research partners. This network of
leading designers and scholars offers the possibility for close involvement
with new developments in international architectural practice, research,
and debate, and will radically influence the character and content of the
new curriculum. In a globalized world it is imperative that we transcend na-
tional boundaries in relation to cultural, socioeconomic, and environmental
issues in order to collaborate with colleagues and institutions worldwide.

Global Network
 Public Programs Werner Sobek Winka Dubbeldam Ryue Nishizawa Enrique Sobejano projects, online articles, slideshows, and video
Robert Somol Keller Easterling Jean Nouvel Edward Soja galleries. The website also performs as a
IIT Architecture offers a public program of Charles Thornton Peter Eisenman Erwin Olaf Michael Speaks content generating machine, and will feature
lectures, debates, symposia, and exhibitions Richard Tomasetti Yvonne Farrell Valerio Olgiati Robert A.M. Stern blogs, topic-oriented bulletin boards, and
that complements and amplifies its educa- Bernard Tschumi Kersten Geers Dominique Perrault Stanley Tigerman student-made content.
tional and research activities. These events Rick Valicenti Frank Gehry Freek Persyn Peter Trummer
extend our conversations to a wider audience Michael Van Christoph Gengnagel Markus Peter Jean Philippe Vassal
and express the school’s central commitment Valkenburgh Michel van Gessel Bas Princen Anthony Vidler Study Abroad
to engage with the world beyond its walls. Charles Waldheim Adriaan Geuze Wolf Prix Bostjan Vuga
Each semester, a series of lectures and other Sarah Whiting Annette Gigon Hani Rashid Tod Williams Study abroad has a long and important his-
events is framed around an organizing theme Ross Wimer Mike Guyer Rudy Ricciotti Riken Yamamoto tory in the training of architects. Immersion in
that also shapes the work of the school’s Edward Windhorst Zaha Hadid Paul Robbrecht Alan Yentob foreign cultures and architectural traditions
76 “horizontal studio” shared by students of Dan Wood Go Hasegawa Fernando Romero Mirko Zardini transforms the way our students understand 77
all levels. Lectures, debates, and symposia Meejin Yoon K. Michael Hays John Ronan Alejandro Zaera-Polo the precedents and contemporary influences
offer students the opportunity to learn about Jennifer Yoos Juan Herreros Thomas Ruff Elia Zenghelis underlying Western design. Today, with archi-
the work of prominent architects, design- Ming Zhang Jacques Herzog Hashim Sarkis tects practicing all around the world, it is
ers, policy makers, theorists, and historians. Christoph Ingenhoven Saskia Sassen crucial for students to explore architecture in
Exhibitions are organized featuring innovative Junya Ishigami Kazuyo Sejima
student and faculty work, as well as the work Toyo Ito Richard Sennett
of local and international architects, artists, Bijoy Jain Kelly Shannon
and designers. Folkert de Jong Dirk Sijmons
Bernard Khoury
Kamiel Klaasse
Hubert Klumpner
Recent Speakers Christian Kerez Future Guests Matthias Kohler Publications
Mikyoung Kim Silvia Kolbowski
Stan Allen Jeffrey Kipnis Iñaki Ábalos Rem Koolhaas IIT Architecture will regularly publish collec-
Wiel Arets Alex Krieger Iwan Baan Adolf Krischanitz tions of essays, conversations, and projects by
William Baker Kengo Kuma Homi K. Bhabha Sanford Kwinter prominent architects, educators, scholars, and
Will Bruder Maya Lin Ben van Berkel Anne Lacaton theorists, as well as portfolios of diverse design
Merritt Bucholz Michael Meredith Aaron Betsky Phyllis Lambert research in relation to both architecture and
Jean-Louis Cohen Ralph Nelson Hélène Binet Scott Lash urban culture worldwide. These collections will
Julia Czerniak Dietrich Neumann Petra Blaise Sylvia Lavin represent a cross section of the architecture cul-
Richard M. Daley Ifeanyi Oganwu Christine Boyer Daniel Libeskind ture produced at IIT that is the result of design
Jørn Utzon’s Bagsværd Church near
Kevin Daly Thomas Oslund Alfredo Brillembourg Bart Lootsma research studios, public lectures and interviews, Copenhagen.
Rahm Emanuel Juhani Pallasmaa Mario Carpo Greg Lynn exhibitions, and other events. Both pedagogical
Kenneth Frampton William Pedersen Yung Ho Chang Qingyun Ma exercises and archival tools, these publications an unfamiliar physical and cultural setting.
Sou Fujimoto John Portman David Chipperfield Winy Maas will be produced internally by the collaborative IIT Architecture’s study abroad options are
Jeanne Gang Peter Pran Kees Christiaanse Matteo Mannini effort of students, faculty, and staff. the widest and deepest of any school in the
Arthur Gensler Lisa Rapoport Felix Claus Josep Lluis Mateo Our website (www.iit.edu/arch) is country. Programs range from full semesters
Laurie Hawkinson Dan Rockhill Beatriz Colomina Thom Mayne designed to be the central hub of the network in Paris, to four-week summer trips across the
Thomas Heatherwick Joseph Rosa Christophe Cornubert Robert McCarter connecting the school’s past and present pro- globe, to intensive short-term international
Steven Holl Joel Sanders Lise-Anne Couture Shelley McNamara duction with a greater architectural audience. workshops. There are a number of study
Louisa Hutton Matthias Sauerbruch Teddy Cruz Marcel Meili It is also a tool for archiving and exhibiting the programs in the school that travel each year
Helmut Jahn Franz Schulze Roman Delugan Frédéric Migayrou studio research projects pursued at the school. as part of the regular curriculum; for instance,
Vincent James Felicity Scott Dirk Denison Farshid Moussavi The website presents live streaming of public the first year Master of Architecture students
Ralph Johnson Adrian Smith Roger Diener Willem Jan Neutelings events, a selection of video documenting past travel to Switzerland over spring break. We do
Sheila Kennedy Julie Snow Elizabeth Diller Rob Nijsse events, mini-sites related to design research not rely on third party providers—our programs

Global Network Global Network

 are organized and taught by our own profes- are intense, flexible, variable, and offer a very of tall buildings by aiding original research on Mies Crown Hall North America Prize
sors and faculty from our partner institutions. different experience than the long-stay study key developmental issues.
And while most schools’ programs are limited abroad programs. Founded in 1969, the Council has estab- IIT Architecture proudly launches an initiative
to Western Europe, our programs are global. Summer Travel Programs: Each summer lished an international member network that for the establishment of the Mies Crown Hall
Our objective is to provide an opportunity for a different slate of study abroad programs are brings together many of the most prominent North America Prize, reflecting the school’s
every architecture student to participate in offered. Originally designed to allow gradu- developers, architects, engineers, and con- embodiment of the legacy of Ludwig Mies van
at least one off-campus program during their ate students an opportunity to go abroad for struction professionals involved with the der Rohe and its renewed position as an inter-
time at IIT, and many students have joined two short, intensive programs, the summer cours- tall-building industry. Regular events and national center for the presentation, debate,
or more programs. es have proven to be extremely popular with forums provide the medium for this inter- and promotion of excellence in American
Paris Program: IIT Architecture offers undergraduate students as well. The offer- disciplinary exchange. In addition to an annual architecture.
study abroad programs in both fall and spring ings vary each summer and often incorporate conference, the Council convenes a World The principal objectives of the prize are
semesters at our studio facility located in workshops or charrettes conducted at sites Congress every four years to summarize the to recognize and commend excellence in the
78 the heart of Paris in the 9th arrondissement throughout the world. state of the industry and produce proceedings field of architecture and to draw attention 79
near the Opera Garnier. Organized in close Spring Break Study Travel: IIT regarding the most recent advances in design to the important contribution of American
collaboration with Jean-Louis Cohen and Architecture also sponsors an annual spring and technology. The Council’s quarterly journal professionals in the development of the
Dominic Perot, two leading French figures break trip abroad, available to both undergrad- also publishes technical papers and dissemi- discipline. The prize also promotes the
within the discipline, this program will offer a uate and graduate students. nates current research in a timely fashion. In profession by supporting young architects as
fully immersive Parisian research experience. addition, each year the Council stages an inter- they launch their careers. The prize aspires
The program is studio based so the semes- national awards competition recognizing the to be a platform for investigation, develop-
industry’s latest achievements, accompanied by
the publication of a “Best Tall Buildings” book.
The Council maintains the Skyscraper
Center, the world’s largest free database on
tall buildings, which is updated daily with
Council on Tall Buildings and detailed information, images, and news on
Urban Habitats thousands of buildings around the world. The
Council has also drafted the standards for
The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban measuring the height of tall buildings and is
Habitat is the world’s foremost resource for recognized as the arbiter for bestowing such
academics and professionals focused on the designations as “The World’s Tallest Building.”
The Aurland Lookout by Todd Saunders and Tommie design, construction, and operation of tall build-
Completed in 1956, S.R. Crown Hall is a National Historic
Wilhelmsen sited high above the Aurlandfjord, Norway. ings within urban habitats. The Council is based Landmark and recently underwent a prize-winning
at Illinois Institute of Technology, where stu- restoration.
ter schedule is built around an architectural dents benefit from courses led by Council staff
design project. There are extensive site visits members and draw upon its extensive research ment, and implementation of advanced
within Paris and weekly visits to sites through- library. Council Executive Director Antony Wood forms of architectural practice that enhance
out France. The program also organizes longer is also a Studio Associate Professor at the the essential relationship between quality
trips throughout Europe. College of Architecture, thus creating a direct of life and the quality of the built environ-
Traveling Studios: Each semester we link between the Council’s international activi- ment, and that illustrate the social, cultural
offer an advanced architectural design studio ties and the university’s campus programs. and economic benefits that derive from this
that undertakes travel as a component of The Council’s primary mission is to relationship. The prize seeks to celebrate the
the design project. These studios are open facilitate the exchange of the latest multi-disci- diversity of American architectural expres-
to fourth and fifth year undergraduates and plinary knowledge regarding tall buildings from sion, while promoting architecture’s role as
the study travel is often subsidized by IIT around the world, through a combination of both a basis for the interchange of ideas,
Architecture or program sponsors. The study events, publications, and an extensive network as well as an arena for the construction of a
travel is usually a ten-day trip aimed at site of international representatives. At the same common American culture.
CTBUH Journal is a peer-reviewed
research and analysis or collaborative work- time, the Council’s research department spear- quarterly and one of the Council’s The prize benefits from the participa-
shops with project partners. These programs heads the investigation of the next generation many publications. tion of state architects’ associations, as

Global Network Global Network

 well as the recommendations of an Advisory
Committee composed of some of the most
prestigious American cultural entities in the
Innovation Center

“The new Innovation Center promises to be an

Our Address 81

field of architecture. The prize also benefits investment in both the education offered at IIT
from its affiliation with the European Mies van and the future of Chicago. It will help unlock
der Rohe Award, which follows similar objec- the potential of thousands of students while
tives and principles. The award culminates in
a catalogue publication and travelling exhibi-
tion that features the works chosen by the
providing Chicago businesses with a pipeline
of new products, processes, and talented
graduates to hire.”—Rahm Emanuel, Mayor,
McCormick
jury: the Prize Winner, the Emerging Architect
Special Mention, the finalists, and the short-
listed works. All of the works nominated will
City of Chicago
As the place on campus where faculty,
students, and creative leaders from private
Tribune
80 be available in the prize database, trans-
forming each edition of the catalogue into a
biennial anthology of some of the best work
enterprise will interact and exchange ideas, the
Innovation Center will allow us to realize our
vision of distinctive education: developing lead-
Campus Center
being constructed in United States. ership and teamwork skills in multidisciplinary
environments, encouraging entrepreneurial
activities, and integrating design methods into
the curriculum. It will emphasize creativity over
analysis at all levels of education. Its singular
purpose is to provide an environment optimal
Graham
for teaching and promoting the basic elements
of innovation—idea creation, design methods,
rapid prototyping, and enterprise creation.
Architecture
Library Resources
Morgenstern Visiting Chair The Innovation Center will also serve as
the physical embodiment of the university’s
Established by a gift from the Victor A. core strengths and become the realization of
Morgenstern Family Foundation, the the foremost priorities of the strategic plan—
Morgenstern Visiting Chair in Architecture is to attract more of the nation’s best students
held annually by an architect of the highest and provide them with the tools and resources
caliber, with a substantial body of work that
is widely and recently recognized in the field.
The Morgenstern Chair teaches an upper-
to become the innovators of tomorrow.
Materials
level studio, delivers an honorary lecture,
and participates in the academic life of IIT
Architecture.
Mies van der Rohe Society

The Society is dedicated to: preserving Mies’s

Workshop and
Recent Morgenstern Chairs:
Vincent James, Minneapolis
legacy and maintaining the architectural
integrity of his buildings at IIT; enhancing
educational programs for students; and rein-
Design/Build
Will Bruder, Phoenix
Sou Fujimoto, Tokyo
Paul Endres, Berkeley
forcing Chicago’s international reputation for
architectural distinction. It hosts events to
raise awareness of this legacy and to support
Studios
Jinhee Park, Cambridge, Mass. its restoration and preservation.
Juan Herreros, Madrid
David Chipperfield, London
Nathalie de Vries, Rotterdam
Glenn Murcutt, Australia

Global Network Legacy

82 Our Address completed in 1943. Today it houses a work-
shop, studios, and offices for IIT Architecture.
IIT’s campus is an unequalled exemplar of Construction of his other campus buildings
the modernist design solutions pioneered continued through the next years, culminat-
by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and his col- ing with the completion of S. R. Crown Hall in
leagues—solutions that have transformed the 1956. Sometimes referred to as the gemstone
urban spaces and skylines of the world. IIT of Mies’s large portfolio of designs, Crown Hall
Architecture is housed in three Mies buildings, remains the home and heart of IIT Architecture.
including S.R. Crown Hall—his masterpiece Mies’s objective was to create an ideal labora-
and one of the most significant buildings tory for the study of architecture, a universal
of the 20th century—and the Minerals and space made column-free by moving the massive
Metals Building, which has been recently con- steel-plate girders and supports (four sets in all)
verted into a 10,000 sq. ft. fabrication shop to the exterior of the building. The large unen-
for students and faculty. cumbered interior space has its central “core”
In 1938, after the closure of the renowned defined by lower wood partitions, a place where
Bauhaus in Germany, Mies arrived in Chicago students assemble for visiting lecturers and
other special events. The glass facade consists
of upper modules of clear glass, while the trans-
82 lucent lower panels are sandblasted to afford 83
both light and screening. In 2007 the building,
which today is registered as a National Historic
Landmark, underwent a meticulous renovation
in which its glass panels were replaced in order
to enhance their energy efficiency and restore
their original translucency.
IIT’s long history of excellence in architec-
ture continues today. In 1997 an international
competition was held for a new campus cen-
ter. The proposal of Rem Koolhaas’s Office of
Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) won out over
those of Zaha Hadid, Peter Eisenman, Helmut
Jahn, and the Tokyo firm of Kazuyo Sijima and
View across the IIT campus to the Ryue Nishizawa. Located directly beneath one
center of Chicago.
of Chicago’s “L” train lines, the most notable
as the director of architecture at IIT and, feature of this building is its 530-foot long
soon, as master architect for a rapidly expand- elliptic, concrete tube clad in corrugated stain-
ing campus. One of many interrelated proposals less steel, which surrounds and muffles the
to remake Chicago’s near South Side, Mies’s noise of passing trains. OMA is one of the most
scheme for IIT first cleared a space in the celebrated, important, and controversial firms
surrounding urban fabric and then placed a of the last twenty-five years and the McCormick
carefully choreographed set of low-slung build- Tribune Campus Center (MTCC) is one of their
ings on the new park-like campus. The result few large buildings completed in North America.
was an innovative, and prototypical, educational It is also a vibrant new hub for the IIT campus.
environment, one that hovered between an open Next to the MTCC are the State Street
modernist field and the enclosed quadrangles of Village Dormitories, designed by Murphy/
traditional campus planning. Jahn in collaboration with Werner Sobek and
Mies’s first major campus building, the similarly defined by the sweeping profile of
Minerals and Metals Research Building, was the stainless-steel panels of its west wall and

Legacy Resources Resources

 which we think actually takes away a lot of the ...Inside the spatial conditions are con-
freedom that the individual architectures ought tinuously different and never the same. And in
to have in this zone, in order for them to retain a sense it was also a kind of pleasure to work,
their maximum, optimum identity, we have of course, both with and against the legacy of
considered that we have to deal with the noise Mies—where although the plan has Miesian
at the source. And part of our project proposes qualities, the section itself would work against
that we …surround an elliptical cylinder, so Mies...
to speak, around the elevated for the section ...Now that we live in a world where only
where we project the student center and that fifty years ago the most extreme innocence
we therefore intercept the noise before it can seemed to make people happy with relatively
spread into the entire campus. And here you little, we need more complexity now and I think
State Street Village student housing by Helmut Jahn, The McCormick Tribune Campus Center opened
see how this kind of single intervention — a that our project provides it.
completed in 2003. 30 September 2003.
rather simple intervention — actually complete-
roof. In the late-1990s IIT also undertook a ly changes the kind of territory and actually ...The first impulse of the project is an
major restoration of the original landscape liberates and creates a zone of dubious useful- urbanistic impulse where we scrape these
plan of Alfred Caldwell, another prominent ness into a zone of real potential... [important connections] away and create in
member of Mies’s faculty. Work continues on ...We then — and we worked with the that sense something that is both general—
these and other projects in order to make IIT students on this — looked at all the move- both a typical, urban condition—but that in
84 a “green” haven of world-class architecture on ments that are being generated by the present its axes plays a major role in connecting every 85
the South Side of Chicago. configuration of the campus. There is the element to every other element, and in that
big housing, the four housing towers, there sense capturing the maximum activity and the
are dormitories, there is the campus here, maximum liveliness...
the various [classroom buildings], Crown ...It seemed extremely important for us
Hall. And what we see now — and this was a that a student center can, like a condenser
McCormick Tribune Campus Center synthesis of a series of kind of recordings of or like a mixing chamber, compress the life
movement — is that obviously there is a kind in a certain way—and this seems one way of
Rem Koolhaas, from the competition presen- of spider web, and that the central part of the potentially doing it...
tation, 4 February 1998 spider web is somewhere here. And somehow ...Instead of a having a building or a
what seemed to be essential in order to den- project which consisted of a single carpet,
...What is rare, and what was particularly sify—not only the architecture—but to densify here we start to individualize and look at every
exciting [here], is that we had a program, and the kind of experience of IIT was to capture in island as almost an autonomous architectural
that we had … a very rich program. IIT set a the building as much as possible of this spi- project, related to but not dependent on, or
program for a small city, very rich in terms of der web. And then also... to in this capturing not defined by, its neighbors. So in that sense The tube surrounding the elevated train
dampens its roar while connecting the
its scale, but also in terms of the wide variety create the most pleasant, protected, inspiring, you have to consider this project as the oppo-
MTCC to the pulse of Chicago.
of activities that went into it. So in that sense [and] stimulating conditions for the users... site of the Miesian box, where in the Miesian
I think that the program alone is maybe the box the conditions inside are emphatically and
most post-Miesian statement of the entire almost aggressively homogenous. This is a
competition, in the sense that of course Mies project, or rather a concept, where a number
takes everything and puts it into place, and of almost individual architectures are brought
here we were confronted with a vast variety of in(to) unusual proximity...
programmatic elements... ...What seems to me an interesting
...I think that the issue is really how to potential is that by being juxtaposed and
make the student center a first element… incorporated in a single entity, each of these
but also a prototypical element, perhaps, that programs can perform its own assigned tasks,
deals with the issue of re-urbanization of this but at the same time, so to speak, “leak” from
middle zone (of the campus)... its containment and engage other activities,
...Rather than using the building as a 35th–Bronzeville–IIT station on the Chicago Transit so that there is not such a rigorous separation
shield against the noise [of the elevated train], Authority’s “L”. of the different programmatic elements...

Resources Resources
 Graham Architecture Library Materials Workshop and Design/ The Materials Workshop is also the base for
Build Studios the school’s Design/Build studios, in which
The Graham Architecture Library offers students students collectively design and construct
a place to participate in our community, a retreat Springing from the legendary workshops of actual buildings—fulfilling the notion of
for contemplation and work. Located in the heart the Bauhaus, IIT’s teaching has always been a “hands on” education. Recent Design/
of Crown Hall, it also provides invaluable resources deeply rooted in the connection between Build studios have constructed a building
for intellectual development—a place where current design and making. Today the importance of for a children’s museum on the Gulf Coast
issues come into contact with the past. In 2008 that connection is given an unequaled physi- (the first structure erected following hur-
the library underwent a significant expansion and cal manifestation in our 10,000 square foot ricane Katrina); an artists-in-residence
renovation, effectively doubling its floor area and workshop located in Mies van der Rohe’s first studio near Chicago; a field chapel in central
shelving space to accommodate its growing col- campus building, the Minerals and Metals Germany; and an exhibition center on the
lections. Today, at 70,000 square feet, the library An exhibition of contemporary Chilean architecture on Building of 1943. In this inspiring industrial grounds of Mies’s Farnsworth House. These
display in the library.
seats sixty-five students and has two seminar space students are encouraged to get their award-winning projects have been realized
rooms for meetings and discussions. A further for our monograph collection, which is also hands dirty and physically engage with a mul- through a combination of prefabrication in
expansion of the library to introduce additional exhi- supplemented by the considerable resources titude of tools, materials, and techniques; to IIT’s workshop and close engagement with
bition space is presently in the planning stages. of the Illinois interlibrary loan program. immerse themselves in the three-dimensional local builders and craftsmen. Although the
Augmenting our general reference works, quality of their designs; and to investigate
the library offers two special research col- structures, connections, fabrication, and
86 lections. One is our “Chicago Collection,” craftsmanship. 87
an array of books that puts the city’s people Projects can be undertaken with wood,
and architectural developments into his- metal, plastic, and concrete. The lab is ser-
torical perspective. The second is our “Mies viced by two gantry cranes and is equipped
Collection,” which features a comprehensive to perform all fundamental fabrication pro-
bibliography and study collection, as well cesses, including welding, metal foundry,
as materials relating to the history of IIT. In laser cutting, CNC milling, and 3D printing.
addition to print collections, researchers have All first-year undergraduate students take
access to over seventy-five databases, and two semesters of classes in the Materials
our journal holdings further allow students to Workshop, learning the skills that they will
remain in touch with international perspec- utilize during subsequent studio classes.
tives and current developments. Students entering the Master programs take
With the recent renovation of the library, an accelerated workshop class as part of
every table has been wired to allow the use of their first studio. Elective courses in furniture
The architecture library provides a space In design/build studios our students
personal computers. The library’s additional design, metals, and digital fabrication are
for study and access to more than learn from full-scale experiences with
15,000 volumes devoted to architecture. resources include ten computer workstations, available for more advanced instruction.
materials, fabrication, and construction.
two scanners, wireless and power access for
The library’s collections—textual, audiovi- fifty seats, and a scanning copier. The most type and location of the projects have been
sual, print, and electronic—allow researchers important resource, however, is a friendly diverse, they have all served to rally the
to immerse themselves in the landscape of and knowledgeable staff that weaves library communities concerned and are true col-
architectural and cultural discourse. A wealth of services into the larger fabric of the design laborations between faculty, students, and
architecturally related subjects, from prehistory studios and research projects. community.
to the present, is contained in the growing col-
lection of 15,000 volumes. The primary focuses
are modern and contemporary architecture,
landscape architecture, and urban design.
Complementary disciplines, such as construc-
tion, art, photography and film, engineering, and
ecology, are also well represented. Faculty and Award-winning field chapel in Bödigheim, Germany,
students are encouraged to submit requests designed and built by IIT students.

Resources Resources
 Degrees 89

Admissions
Scholarships
Opportunities
Community
Colophon
88

Basic
Facts

Resources Legacy
90 IIT Architecture is one of the largest and most international architecture 91

schools in the United States, with over 800 students from fifty countries
and more than 100 faculty members. Our faculty includes influential,
award-winning practitioners who teach in our design studios and classes.
Hundreds of firms in the United States and around the world know our
faculty and seek out our students for internships and employment. IIT’s
architecture degrees have been consistently ranked by professionals as
among the top programs in the United States.
Drawing strength from a lineage that reaches back to the Bauhaus, our
faculty and curriculum are committed to the material culture of the built
environment, to a sophisticated integration of technology and design, and
to a deep engagement with professional practice. Through education,
research, and practice, IIT Architecture extends this lineage by its work on
a full range of contemporary issues, including sustainability, global urban-
ization, material and structural advances, design-build integration, digital
modeling and fabrication, and design theory and criticism. The students,
faculty, and alumni foster an academic environment that is intellectually
stimulating, professionally challenging, committed to innovation, and inter-
national in scope.
The work and life of IIT Architecture are greatly enriched by its location
in the city of Chicago, which has a rich architectural and cultural heritage 91

and present-day connections to progressively-minded, global practitioners.

Chicago offers an extraordinary set of organizations devoted to architec-
ture and related fields, including the Graham Foundation, the Chicago
Architecture Foundation, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of
Contemporary Art, and the Arts Club; as well as a community of universi-
ties, including Northwestern University, the University of Illinois at Chicago,
and the University of Chicago.
For students and faculty, IIT’s setting provides an urban laboratory in
which to explore the complex issues facing contemporary cities. Among
these are sustainable planning, affordable housing, transportation, his-
toric preservation, adaptive reuse, and other trends that are transforming
the built environment throughout the world. Our mission includes a com-
mitment to the needs of our neighborhood, city, and region. At the same
time, we connect students and faculty to parallel currents around the globe
through a large and varied range of study abroad programs, including
studio trips throughout the world, intensive summer travel programs, and a
year-long program with a permanent base in Paris.

Legacy Legacy Basic Facts

92 Degree Programs The Crown Scholarship Scholarships workshop emphasizes 93
Full-tuition scholarship awarded by IIT Graduate scholarships the fluid integration
Degrees Offered Architecture to one domestic first-year are given exclusively to of manual and digital
Bachelor of Architecture student with high academic and leadership incoming students of the modes of representation
Master of Architecture potential. highest academic stand- into a cohesive process.
(full program or with Advanced Standing) ing for use in their first The course is open to
Master of Landscape Architecture Camras Scholars Program year of graduate study. those who are not cur-
Master of Science in Architecture* Full-tuition scholarship open to all majors Scholarship awards rently seeking a degree
Doctor of Philosophy in Architecture with outstanding academic achievement and range from the $6,000 but are interested in
dedication to leadership. Dean’s Scholarship to pursuing architectural
*Includes Master of Integrated Building Delivery upwards of a half-tuition graduate studies in the
and M.Sc. with a specialization in Sustainable New
Duchossois Leadership Scholars scholarship. Graduate future.
Cities.
Full-tuition scholarship open to all majors with students are also eligible For more detailed
exceptional potential for leadership. for teaching assistant- information on both pro-
Dual Degrees Offered ships, which are paid grams, please visit www.
Master of Architecture University Scholars Program as a combination of iit.edu/arch/programs.
Master of Landscape Architecture Open to all majors with outstanding high tuition rebates and direct
Master of Architecture school academic records and extracurricular stipends.
Master of Integrated Building Delivery activities.

Accreditation Presidential Scholarship Summer

To become a licensed architect in the United Open to nominated transfer students from Opportunities
States, most states require a degree from an two-year institutions.
accredited professional degree program. IIT’s
IIT Architecture offers
92 B.Arch. and M.Arch. degrees are accredited Collens Scholars Program 93
summer workshops for
by the National Architectural Accrediting Open to Chicago Public School graduates who those contemplating
Board. Our M.L.A. degree is accredited by the will attend IIT full-time. professional studies in
Landscape Architectural Accreditation Board.
architecture.
Chicago Police and Fire Departments The Experiment in
Scholarship Architecture High School
Open to children and grandchildren of mem- Summer Program hosts
Undergraduate Admission bers of the Chicago Police Department and 60 students each year
and Scholarships Chicago Fire Department. for a two-week introduc-
tory workshop. Students
Whether seeking to study as a new, transfer,
tour Chicago, complete a
or visiting student, individuals seeking admis-
series of design projects,
sion to the five-year Bachelor of Architecture Graduate Admission and
and attend lectures by
degree (B.Arch.) should apply through IIT’s Scholarships IIT faculty. The program
Office of Undergraduate Admission.
informs students about
IIT accepts the Common Application www. Individuals seeking admission to IIT’s College the study of architecture,
commonapp.org. For detailed information of Architecture graduate programs should architectural prac-
about undergraduate admission requirements, apply directly to the College of Architecture. tice, and future career
deadlines, financial aid, and housing, please For detailed information about graduate options.
visit the IIT Undergraduate Admission website admission requirements, deadlines, and IntroARCH is a two-
at iit.edu/undergrad-admission. scholarships, please visit the IIT Architecture week summer workshop
website at www.iit.edu/arch/admission/ that prepares students
You may also contact 312.567.3025 or graduate. You may also contact 312.567.3230 for the graduate studio
[email protected]. or [email protected]. sequence at IIT. The

Legacy Basic Facts Legacy Basic Facts

94 Harold Singleton III Annie Simmons Sarah Pariseau College of Architecture David LeFevre Jill Danly 95
Carl S. Spetzler Executive Assistant Manager of Faculty Spring 2013 Jonathan Miller Michael Glynn
Efthimios J. “Tim” to the Dean Academic Affairs Kathleen Nagle Aaron Greven
Stojka Professors Richard Nelson Greg Grzeslo
John Tracy Associate Deans Finance Wiel Arets Alphonso Peluso Matt Herman
Robert J. Washlow Robert Krawczyk Faith Kancauski Dirk Denison Paul Pettigrew Thomas Jacobs
Alan W.“Bud” Wendorf Associate Dean of Director of Finance Mahjoub Elnimeiri Benjamin Riley Martin Klaeschen
Academic Affairs Robert Krawczyk Andrew Schachman Janet Krehbiel
College of Vedran Mimica Communications Peter Land Antony Wood Pieracci
Architecture Board of Associate Dean of (to come) Harry Francis John Kriegshauser
Overseers Research Director of Programs Mallgrave Studio Assistant Professors Gary Lehman
David Crowell John Ronan and Publications Donna Robertson Colleen Humer John Manaves
Chair Associate Dean of Publications Editor John Ronan Leslie Johnson Alessandro Paradiso
Robert Babbin Curriculum Graphic Designer Mary Pat Mattson Kerstin Puller
William F. Baker Web Designer Associate Professors Andrew Tinucci Timo Schmidt
Jim DeStephano Academic Directors Mies Crown Hall North Frank Flury Stephen Sennott
Mary Elizabeth Sean Keller America Prize Eva Kultermann Mies van der Rohe Karla Sierralta
Spies Droste Director of History (to come) Vedran Mimica Adjunct Professor Lynsey Sorrell
John M.Genovese and Theory Director George Schipporeit Werner Sobek Amanda Williams
Edward C.Hirschland Eva Kultermann Coordinator Arthur Takeuchi Betsy Williams
Ralph Johnson Director of Classes Catherine Wetzel Adjunct Professor, Thesis Arthur Wier
Alvin Katz Harry Mallgrave Buildings and Operations Robert Babbin
Thomas P. Kerwin Director of Doctoral Rick Nelson Assistant Professors Part Time Professors
Jong Soung Kimm Program Director of Buildings Marshall Brown Adjunct Professors Brett Balogh
94 Robert Krier Vedran Mimica and Operations Sean Keller David Brininstool Christine Carlyle 95
Daniel Levin Director of Master Kai Hansen Peter Osler Steven Brubaker Rico Cedro
Dirk Lohan of Science in IT Coordinator Christopher Rockey Barbara Geiger Ann Clark
Mary Mazza Architecture Stuart MacRae Nancy Hamill-Governale Philip Enquist
Michael T. Miller Peter Osler Facilities Assistant Studio Professors Gunny Harboe Jim Hall
Jennifer Morgenstern Director of Master Ron Krueck Tom Hoepf Martin Holland
Robyn Morgenstern of Landscape Materials Workshop John Lupino Anthony Hurtig
Rosenblatt Architecture John Kriegshauser Studio Associate Andrew Metter Kiril Ivanov
James Nagle John Ronan Shop Manager Professors Carol Ross Barney Michael Karlovitz
Carol Ross Barney Director of Studios Michael Gillhouse Thomas Brock Thomas Roszak Luke Leung
Mark P. Sexton Assistant Shop Tim Brown Robert Smietana Anthony LoBello
Adrian Smith International Programs Manager Monica Chadha Terry Surjan Kindon Mills
John Syvertsen Tim Brown Brett Balogh Susan Conger Austin Ed Uhlir Mark McKinney
Martin F. Wolf Director of Lab Technician Roger Cooley Ross Wimer Mike Mitchell
International Program John Desalvo Jay Womack Pat Natke
College of Architecture Susan Conger Austin Library Paul Endres David Woodhouse John Nelson
Administration and Staff Director of Foreign Kim Soss Martin Felsen Brent Norsman
(beginning Fall 2013) Relations Head of Library Craig Forneris Adjunct Associate Carlo Parente
Carol Shrewsbury David Greenberg Professors Jennifer Park
Dean Student Services Library Assistant Kristin Jones Sachin Anand
Wiel Arets Stephen Sennott Thomas Kearns Anne Attali Associate Professors
Dean, Rowe Family Assistant Dean of College of Architecture Steve Kibler Richard Blender Emeritus
College of Architecture Academic Affairs Advisory Council Jeffery Klymson Jonathan Brooke David Sharpe
Endowed Chair (to come) Lukasz Kowalczyk Joseph Flanigan Clair San Utsunomiya

Legacy Basic Facts Legacy Basic Facts

 Colophon

Crime: Al Capone, mob boss

96 Publisher & Distributor
IITAC Press/ Illinois Institute of Technology
Concept and Editorial Committee College of Architecture
Wiel Arets, Sean Keller, Vedran Mimica 3360 South State Street
Chicago, IL
Editorial Assistance 60616-3793
John Bezold, W. David Work 312-567-3230
www.iit.edu/arch
Photo Editor
Lukasz Kowalczyk ISBN 978-0-9890438-9-2
© 2013 Illinois Institute of Technology College
Contributors of Architecture
Raul Bressan, Tim Brown, Paarth Chheda,
Susan Conger Austin, Frank Flury, Ron No part of this book may be reproduced in
Gordon, Richard Harkin, Robert Krawczyk, Eva any manner whatsoever without the written
Kultermann, Melody Lopez, Harry Mallgrave, permission from the publisher, except in the
Mary Pat Mattson, Mike Mitchell, Peter Osler, context of reviews.
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Bettmann, 107 r; Chris Alexander, 107 b; on 13 March 2013.
Brooklyn Museum, 108 t; Chicago History
Museum, 107 r, 108 r, 109; Jan Fujita/CHM, 110
t; Hedrich Blessing/CHM, 110 b, r; Les Sintay/
CHM, 111 t; Mark Tomaras/City of Chicago, 111 r;
Ezra Stoller/Esto, 111 b; Michael Wolf, Courtesy
Fifty One Fine Art Photography, 117-126

Legacy Basic Facts

Jazz: Herbie Hancock, innovative keyboardist

Blues: Muddy Waters, father of Chicago blues

Comedy: Bill Murray, Second City alumnus

Drama: John Malkovich, Steppenwolf Theater Company alumnus

Image: Oprah Winfrey, television host

Word: Louis “Studs” Terkel, radio host

 Chicago
105

Chicago is a metropolis whose cultural wealth admits few rivals anywhere

in the world. The vibrancy and variety of this global city, embodied by its
people, history and architecture, encompass the greatest heights of accom-
plishment and the bleakest depths of perdition. In the vast space between
the glittering skyscrapers of prosperity and the hardscrabble streets of
poverty there is no room for quitters in Chicago. The city by the lake is, and
always has been, a “city on the make.” Ever since its humble beginnings as a
nineteenth century trading post situated on swampland where the Chicago
River fed into Lake Michigan, Chicago has been a perennial destination for
the most ambitious, cunning, and visionary individuals—all seeking to make
their mark not only on the city, but on the nation and the world.
Punishment: Eliot Ness, Prohibition agent

Legacy
106 mapping that defined European settlement
of the central and western United States.
Simultaneously idealistic, democratic, and
pragmatic, this system parceled out land in
an even and extendible lattice that organized
the nation’s westward expansion, and along
with it, Chicago’s rise. Subtle disruptions—
diagonally radiating avenues, railway lines, the
Chicago River, the lakefront and its system
of parks—provide differentiation and a sense
of place within the city’s seemingly abstract
spatial system.

10,000 BCE. Formation of the Subcontinental

Divide Separating the Mississippi and St. 8-10 October 1871. Great Fire. Until the eve-
Lawrence Watersheds at Chicago. In subur- ning of 8 October 1871 Chicago was a city of
ban Oak Park, two raindrops hit the ground wood, built fast and cheap to keep pace with
only inches apart. One travels westward to the
Mississippi River and on to the Gulf of Mexico;
the other flows east into the Great Lakes,
the St. Lawrence River, and finally the North
Atlantic. Although barely discernable, Chicago
sits on an enormously consequential ridge left
behind by the retreating glaciers of the last
ice age. Easy movement between these vast
waterways has made the city a locus for trade
since humans first inhabited the area. Long
before railways, highways, or airports, boats
put Chicago on the map.

107
4 August 1830. Drawing the Grid. From the its explosive growth. When fire broke out in a
blocks of Chicago’s first property map drawn barn on the city’s south side, winds drove the
in 1830, Chicago’s street grid expanded to blaze north across the city center. After two
become the apotheosis of the Cartesian days a thriving hub of commerce was reduced
to ashes. Chicago’s formidable architectural
heritage is rooted in this destruction. In the
decades following the fire, the city reinvented
itself, implementing strict building codes, invest-
ing in modern infrastructure, preserving public
space, and planning for future growth. The city
burned but a metropolis rose from its ruins.

Legacy Chicago
 the three-dimensionally gridded steel struc- would demonstrate that urban development
ture—the “Chicago Frame”—a structure that is not unidirectional, but involves cycles of
exploded the entire architectural tradition of densification and disaggregation, of ebb and
load-bearing stone. Freed by the new structural flow, over the life of the city.
system, both elevations and plans became
open and non-hierarchical. With their large
expanses of glass, the buildings of this period 1909. Plan of Chicago. Co-authored by
ushered in the era of the modern skyscraper. Daniel Burnham and Edward Bennett, the
Plan of Chicago challenged the non-hier-
archical grid on which the city had grown,
3 October 1897. Opening of the Union Loop proposing instead a Baroque composition of
“L”. As the commercial city’s density gener- plazas, avenues, and parks arranged sym-
ated unprecedented bustle and gridlock at metrically around an artificial harbor and
September 1893. First Ferris Wheel Ride. street level, new technologies were deployed Chicago’s unusual geological situation, it civic center. Though many elements were
As host of the World’s Columbian Exposition, to alleviate congestion without sacrific- was possible through massive infrastructural never realized, the plan articulated far-reach-
Chicago faced the challenge of surpassing ing the benefits of proximity. As Chicago’s work to do the impossible and reverse the ing goals that guided Chicago’s development
the structural marvel of the recently-con- downtown buildings went skyward, its transit river’s flow away from the lake. The highly throughout the twentieth century: the pres-
structed Eiffel Tower. George W. Ferris, a contested project secured clean water for
bridge engineer, considered the problem at generations of future Chicagoans, but only by
length: to simply build another tower would redirecting the negative impact of the city’s
be to forego innovation. Ferris’s insight was success onto others.
to realize that the steel frame held potential
beyond static building. He created a dynamic
“machine for looking” that carried as many as 1909. Traffic on Dearborn and Randolph.
2,160 passengers in modified Pullman train Chicago has always been a logistics center.
cars to a height of 264 feet, from which they Historically overlaid networks of water, rail,
could view the expanding metropolis below. highway, and air travel make today’s city a
major node in the vast systems of global
commerce. More than natural forces, the
December 1899. The Chicago Frame: Louis flow of goods and people have shaped the
108 Sullivan’s Schlesinger & Mayer Department metropolis’s architecture and landscape. At 109
Store. Better known as Carson Pirie Scott & infrastructure soon followed. Built through the turn of the twentieth century the city of ervation of the lakefront for public use, the
Co., this building is a high point of the so-called the controversial dealings of Charles Yerkes, trade turned hypertrophic: life in Chicago’s expansion of parks and forest preserves, and
Chicago School. Architects like Sullivan grap- Chicago’s reviled “Cable Czar,” the elevated center reached an unprecedented, even the creation of cultural centers. The Plan
pled with the aesthetic problems presented by “Loop” train lent its name to the city’s central notorious, density. Later decades, however, demonstrates that the importance of utopian
business district. Today the electric cars still visions rests not in the details of their execu-
emit a rumbling roar as they pass overhead. tion but in their power to direct the course of
metropolitan development.

17 January 1900. Reversing the River. The

city thrummed with work and life, and the 14 February 1929. St. Valentine’s Day
Chicago River ran through it all, transport- Massacre. Prohibition brought celebrity,
ing livestock, grain, and lumber, but also riches, and violence to Chicago gangland
dumping waste into Lake Michigan, the bosses like Al Capone and Bugs Moran,
city’s supply of fresh water. Outbreaks of whose rival factions controlled the city’s
typhoid became increasingly common as the booze traffic, brothels, and casinos. With its
industrial city sickened itself. Yet, technol- conspiracy theories, complicit cops, and sus-
ogy also provided a solution (of sorts): given pects who went uncharged, the St. Valentine’s

Chicago Chicago
 1951. 860-880 Lakeshore Drive. Designed Groundbreaking at the time of its comple-
as a prototype for postwar urban housing, tion, the tower debuted Khan’s “trussed tube”
these apartment buildings by Ludwig Mies structural system. This novel approach used
van der Rohe served as a model not only for an x-braced external steel frame to efficiently
his own subsequent skyscrapers, but for distribute the extreme wind and gravity loads
those of many architects throughout the generated by such a tall building. Research
world. Appearing as the heroic culmination proving this technique’s efficiency was carried
of Chicago Frame, this pair of buildings out by IIT graduate student Mikio Sasaki under
also demonstrates the subtlety of Mies’s the guidance of Kahn and Myron Goldsmith.
approach. Their structural frames, for exam-
ple, do not appear directly on the facade, but
are represented there through supplemental 16 July 2004. Opening Day of Millennium
steel members. Striking enough by day in Park. Constructed over the train yards that
Day Massacre of nine mob associates created their understated elegance, the towers are 28 August 1968. Police Riot, Democratic once defined the city, Millennium Park is
an archetype of organized crime. Pitting North stunning at night, when their dark steel grids National Convention. “As long as I am mayor, emblematic of Chicago’s shift from a city
Side against South Side and one ethnicity appear to float above cubes of frosted glass there will be law and order in Chicago. defined by modern industry, to one determined
against another, the event’s brutality echoes in lit from within. Nobody is going to take over this city.” So by finance, culture, tourism, and lifestyle. New
the gang violence Chicago still confronts today. boasted Richard J. Daley on the eve of the
convention he had brought to the city. In the
preceding year, while other cities rioted and
27 May 1934. Crystal House, Century of burned, Chicago had remained quiet. The
Progress Exposition. Chicago’s 1933-34 calm did not hold—confrontations between
world’s fair was devoted to visions of the protesters and police exploded in chaos and
future, and especially to the role of technol- cruelty. The conflict over race, wealth, mili-
ogy in everyday life. George Keck’s “Crystal tary action, and political power played out
House” was one of several “laboratory houses violently on a national stage, and was broad-
that were designed not primarily to be dif- cast live from Mayor Daley’s Chicago.
ferent or tricky but to attempt seriously to
determine whether better ideas and designs
for living could be found.” Intended to be 6 May 1968. John Hancock Center Tops Out.
110 mass produced, Keck’s house was exhibited Designed by Bruce Graham and engineered 111
with Buckminster Fuller’s famous Dymaxion by Fazlur Khan, both of SOM, the 100-story landmarks such as Frank Gehry’s Jay Pritzker
Car parked within, offering a compelling tall John Hancock Center is a vertical city Pavilion and Anish Kapoor’s Cloud Gate have
model of a new world soon to come. within the city, containing offices, condo- played an important role in redefining the
miniums, restaurants, shops, and parking. “imageability” of downtown Chicago. But
beneath these structures and the engineered
prairie in which they sit, the Metra/Illinois
Central tracks remain in use, channeling com-
muters and tourists to feed the commerce
that underpins the city’s venture into a global,
post-material conception of urbanity.

Chicago Chicago
 262 223 31
76 28
77 86 148
92
90
112 170

54
147 08
277
123

167 103
212
62
179
205 156
44 274 18
222

146 151 248 282

57 158
58
259 52
238 46 105 129
95 233 53 06
136 185 217
241 93 18
105 09 110
143 190 91
63 100 101
82 254 230
135
245 30
80
169 89 71 37
211 150
244
260 41
195 285 51 140 74
285
78
59 42
238 50
280 07 216
174 97 47 215 14
207 237 32 64 220
11 10
208 113
84 96
142 236 291 87 27
272 61
269 115 76 149
128 290 198 85 04
228 60
112 94
229 125 199 39 239
137 295 164 66 122 19
34 24
232
284 118 258
184 265
181 108 176 01 214
75 132
24 255
43 207 25 116 81 233
187 121
21 71 16 231
99 22
172
35 102
45 33 107
166
98 121
278 266 56 261
12 240
88 68 80 03 225 227 221
253
145 246 268
273 175 162 109

173 293 05
183 40
276 171 247

292
178

189 264
165 279
194
15 2
218
163 55

161 186 210

114 17

141 171
38 242 127 168
219
133 84

188 138
29
263
36 266
124 178
177

275 49 235
201
190
130
283
257
197

111 73 157
294 131

249
226
193
196
155
153 204

119 223
159
65

117

134

13 287
106 200 243
126
160 250 203
251

252
153
23 270
267 202
281
67
Legacy 69 182
 1 Millennium Park 50 Dusable Park 98 Chicago Title and Trust 150 Lincoln Park 206 Sanctuary 253 The Paul V. Galvin Library
2 Adler Planetarium 51 Chicago Shakespeare 99 Center 151 Burnham Harbor 207 Clemente Park Pool 254 Grover M. Hermann Hall
3 Auditorium Building Theater 100 311 South Wacker Drive 152 McClurg Building 208 Skinner Park 255 Gage Group Buildings
4 Balaban and Katz Chicago 52 Drake Hotel 111 South Wacker Drive 153 East Village 209 Ellen Gates Star Park 256 Hotel St. Benedict Flats
Theatre 53 Delaware Building 101 Chicago Avenue Pumping 154 University Village 210 Superior Park 257 Inland Steel Building
5 Blackstone Hotel 54 Marshall Field Garden Station 155 Armour Park Square Nancy Jefferson Park 258 William W. Kimball House
6 860-880 North Lake Apartments 102 Museum of Contemporary 156 Florian S. Jacolik Park 211 Garfield Park Lakeside Press Building
Shore Drive 55 Field Museum of Natural Art 157 Hull House 212 Conservatory 259 Loop Retail Historic
7 Chapin and Gore Building History 103 Railway Exchange 158 Stanton Park 213 Ohio and Harding Park District
8 James Charnley House 56 Fisher Building 104 Building 159 McCormick Place 214 Harding Park 260 Fourth Presbyterian
9 Chicago Water Tower 57 Polish Museum of America 105 Pulaski Park 160 Seward Park 215 Maplewood Park 261 Church of Chicago
10 Chicago Harbor 58 Germania Club 106 Durso Park 161 Canalpart Riverwalk 216 Chicago Yacht Club 262 Dawson Brothers Plant
Lighthouse 59 Chicago Varnish Company 107 Olympia Center 162 Kucinski-Murphy Park 217 Ogden Plaza 263 Second Leiter Building
11 35 East Wacker Building 108 Piotrowski Park 163 Lawndale 218 Cityfront Plaza Lathrop House
12 Chicago Public Library 60 Harbor Point 109 CNA Center 164 Printers Row 219 Connors Park 264 Second Presbyterian
13 Illinois Institute of 61 The Parkshore Chase Tower 165 Dearborn Park 220 Park No. 513 265 Church
Technology Academic 62 Gold Coast Historic District 110 Museum of Contemporary 166 Civic Opera House 221 Coliseum Park 266 Ludington Building
Campus 63 Holy Name Cathedral 111 Photography 167 Roosevelt Park 222 Chicago River 267 Roanoke Building
14 River Esplanade Park 64 330 North Wabash 112 Water Tower Place 168 Petrillo Music Shell 223 Lake Michigan Manhattan Building
15 Museum Campus 65 Florian S. Jacolik Park Armour Square Kedvale Park 224 Mariano Park 268 Armour Square Tennis
16 Orchestra Hall 66 The Loop Historic District 113 The Heritage at 169 Gold Star Families Park & 225 Lincoln Monument Courts
17 John G. Shedd Aquarium 67 Hoyne Park 114 Millennium Park 170 Memorial 226 Morton Park 269 South Loop Printing
18 Oak Street Beach 68 Manhattan Building 115 Aqua Tower 171 River North 227 Queen’s Landing 270 House District
19 Milleniumn Park 69 U.S. Cellular Field 116 Addams Park 172 Walsh Park 228 Sun-Yet-Sen Park 271 Peoples Gas Building
Pedestrian Bridge 70 Marshall Field Company 117 Two Prudential Plaza Vernon Park Monroe Harbor 272 State Street Village
20 James Charnley House Building 118 Willis Tower 173 Fountain of the Great 229 Ogilvie Transportation Marquette Building
21 Rookery Building 71 Montgomery Ward 119 Dunbar Park 174 Lakes Center Chicago and North
22 Monadnock Block Company Complex 120 One North LaSalle 175 Garibaldi Park 230 Chicago Daily News 273 Western Railway Power
23 S.R. Crown Hall 72 Motor Row Historic District 121 Henry C. Palmisano Park 176 Fulton River District Building House
24 Reliance Buildings 73 Navy Pier 122 Grant Park 177 Fosco Park 231 Prentice Women’s 274 John H. Stroger, Jr.
25 Heritage Green Park 74 Franklin Center North 123 Studebaker Building 178 Crown Fountain Hospital Building Hospital of Cook County
26 Sain Park Tower 124 Jay Pritzker Pavilion 179 Guadalupe Reyes Park 232 Chicago Architecture 275 Holy Trinity Orthodox
27 Michigan-Wacker Historic 75 Aon Center Humboldt Park 180 South Loop 233 Foundation 276 Cathedral
District 76 Simons Park 125 National Museum of 181 Goose Island The Cloud Gate Pilsen Historic District
28 Lincoln Park Zoo 77 Chicago History Museum 126 Mexican Art 182 Barberry Park 234 John Hancock 277 Sears, Roebuck, and
29 Praire District 78 McCormick Tribune 127 Chicago Temple Building 183 Near West Side 235 Observatory Company Complex
30 Pfc Milton Olive Park Freedom Museum 128 Lake Meadows Park 184 Victory Monument The Modern Wing 278 Wicker Park Historic
31 North Avenue Beach 79 Samuel Nickerson House 129 Soldier Field 185 Dogwood Park 236 The Glessner House District
114 115
32 Marina City 80 Harold Washington 130 The Steuben Club 186 East Garfield Park Museum 279 Old Chicago Main Post
33 Chicago Federal Center 81 Library 131 Washington Square Cabrini Green 237 Trustees System Service 280 Office
34 Chicago Savings Bank 82 Art Institute 132 Wheeler-Kohn House 187 Douglas Park Cultural & Building 281 Agora
Building 83 The Poetry Foundation 133 Park No. 540 188 Community Center 238 Reid, Murdoch & Co. Tribune Tower
35 Chicago Board of Trade 84 77 West Wacker Drive 134 Chicago “L”. 189 Tri-Taylor Building 282 Stephen Douglas
Building 85 Northly Island Park 135 Prairie Avenue 190 London Park 239 St. Nicholas Ukrainian 283 Monument Park
36 Henry B. Clarke House New Masonic Building and 136 Bosley Park 191 Medical District 240 Catholic Cathedral 284 The Neuville
37 Ohio Street Beach 86 Oriental Theater Kells Park 192 Near North 241 Reliance Building The Vesta
38 Cotton Tail Park Old Chicago Historical 137 Ukrainian Institute of 193 Park No. 519 Studebaker Building 285 Accumulator
39 Burnham Center 87 Society Building 138 Modern Art 194 Homan Playlot Park 242 The Ukrainian National Company Building
40 Dearborn Station 88 Oliver Building 139 Union Park 195 Limas Park 243 Museum 286 Chicago Mercantile
41 Jane Addams Memorial 89 Pontiac Building 140 Douglas Park 196 Little Italy 244 Central Station 287 Exchange
Park 90 The Arts Club of Chicago Brookfield Zoo 197 Streeterville 35-Bronzeville-IIT 288 Ohio Street Dog Park
42 Gateway Park 91 Graham Foundation 141 Smith Museum of Stained 198 Washtenaw Park 245 Former Chicago Historical Navy Pier Ferris Wheel
43 Garfield Park 92 Prentice Women’s 142 Glass Windows 199 Chinatown 246 Society Building 289 Kehilath Anshe Ma’ariv
44 Institute of Puerto Rican Hospital 143 Douglas Park Pool 200 Daley Plaza 247 Holy Name Cathedral 290 Synagogue
Arts & Culture 93 Old Town Triangle Historic 144 Tilton Park 201 City Hall 248 Notre Dame Cathedral Holstein Park Pool
45 National Hellenic Museum 94 District 145 Orr Park 202 Richard J. Daley Park 249 Memorial Grove 291 James R. Thompson
46 Noble Square 95 Honore Park 146 Villa District 203 Heart Of Chicago 250 Palmolive Building 292 Center
47 Michigan Avenue Bridge 96 Chicago Cultural Center 147 Clark Park 204 Douglas Monument Park Lakefront Trail 293 Page Brothers Builing
48 Mather Tower 97 John Hancock Center 148 Ukrainian Village Chicago Skate Park 251 McCormick Tribune 294 Central Park Theater
49 Ping Tom Memorial Park 35 East Wacker Drive 149 Wicker Park 205 McCormick Place Bird 252 Campus Center 295 Jennie Foley Building

Chicago Chicago
 In 2006, when arriving in Chicago... Michael Wolf took the 117

elevated train into the city at dusk and was struck by the trans-
parency of its architecture. After having worked in Asia for
many years, Wolf saw Chicago as providing the opportunity
to continue his [photographic] study of city life in a radically dif-
ferent context. Shooting from public rooftops over the course
of several months, Wolf adopted a similar visual approach to
[that of] his architectural work in Hong Kong. However, the
transparency and monumental size of Chicago’s buildings give
a very different result: the city is far less dense than Hong
Kong, thereby creating a greater sense of depth to the images,
while the transparency of its glass skyscrapers causes the life
within them to seep out.
During the editing process for the series, Wolf became
fascinated by the glimpses of people’s lives visible through
the windows of the buildings that he had photographed.
He painstakingly scoured every inch of these cityscapes to
find human details to pair with his architectural images, blow-
ing these details up into highly pixilated large-scale tableaux.
By juxtaposing the photographic equivalents of a microscope
and a telescope, he provides an underlying tension: shot during
the early days of the global financial crisis, the monumental
size and sleekness of the buildings contrast with the fear and
fragility on the pixilated faces of its occupants.

116 Michael Wolf, Life in the City

Chicago Legacy
118 119

Legacy Legacy
120 121

Legacy Legacy
122 123

Legacy Legacy
 现在性
124

2013 2014 年
美国伊利诺理
工大学 建筑学院
芝加哥

Legacy
現在性
2013 2014 年
イリノイ工科大学
(IIT)建築学
シカゴ

iit.edu/arch