Too cool for school

Buildings by Helmut Jahn and Rem Koolhaas turn the Illinois Institute of Technology into Chicago's "it" campus

Cindy Coleman -- Interior Design, 1/1/2004 12:00:00 AM

If a Frisbee sails across a quad, and there's no one to catch it, is it really a quad?

In the early 1990's, the Illinois Institute of Technology boasted a 120-acre Chicago campus with buildings designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe—but not much in the way of community spirit. Administrators, mapping out the institution's future, knew that today's sophisticated students expect more: a cool place to crash, a cool place to hang, and a cool place to access the Internet (at high speed, no less). "Universities have a responsibility to consider life outside the classroom," says the IIT School of Architecture's dean, Donna Robertson.

An IIT master plan began by considering the campus's main artery, which actually functioned more as a barrier. Because State Street and the adjacent Chicago Transit Authority elevated tracks bifurcated the campus, traveling from one side to the other was undesirable, especially at nighttime. "The new plan not only joins what was previously segregated—housing and classrooms—but also develops a sense of community and provides enhanced services for the students," explains Robertson. Key to these revitalization goals are two high-profile projects. One, a residence hall, is by Murphy/Jahn president and CEO Helmut Jahn; the other is a campus center by Office for Metropolitan Architecture partner Rem Koolhaas, who won the commission through an international competition.

Jahn himself studied architecture at IIT in the 1960's, so it makes perfect sense that his three U-shape residence halls, collectively known as State Street Village, follow the Mies philosophy. They're honest structures that show what they're made of: poured-in-place concrete clad in glass and corrugated stainless-steel panels. The buildings embrace landscaped courtyards, and views from roof terraces stretch across the city's South Side, all the way to the Sears Tower. "The complex makes a very strong urban impact—and redefines IIT as a residential university," says Jahn.

State Street Village offers both suites and apartment-style units for a total of 98 rooms housing 360 students. Walls, floors, and ceilings are concrete; bathroom fixtures are stainless steel; custom beds, armoires, and desks are lightweight, easy to rearrange, and minimally detailed. To ensure that the el wouldn't disturb studying and sleeping, Jahn constructed walls with acoustic barriers, which eliminate train noise and vibrations.

The McCormick Tribune Campus Center, one block north of State Street Village, takes on the el line even more directly, integrating it to resolve a variety of urban-planning issues. Koolhaas did this by enclosing a 530-foot-long section of track in the Tube, an acoustically isolated tunnel that pierces the center's soundproof concrete-slab roof. The Tube's cladding of corrugated stainless steel coordinates with State Street Village's facade.

The campus center itself is clad in panels of glass, aluminum-framed, and the main entry's pair of 20-foot-high sliding glass doors are printed with an oversize portrait of Mies. They open to a highly energized environment, clearly designed for a student state of mind.

Even Koolhaas's layout for the single-story 115,000-square-foot building derives from student habits: Circulation routes follow the foot-worn paths that residents formed in walking back and forth between dorm and classroom over the past 70 years, explains former OMA project architect Sarah Dunn. Stairs morph into ramps, which morph into spaces for dining, watching TV, playing Ping-Pong and pool, or accessing the Internet.

One elevation is double-glazed with orange laminated glass sandwiching a layer of orange plastic honeycomb panels, which bend natural light into concentric circles. The floors—some green, some red—are coated in epoxy. A striking contrast to IIT's black-and-white Mies architecture, the saturated colors glow all the more intensely against the grayness of the long, cold months separating students from their spring vacations.

Previous spread, top: At the McCormick Tribune Campus Center at Chicago's Illinois Institute of Technology, the Office for Metropolitan Architecture designed epoxy-coated steps that morph into ramps, combining vertical and wheelchair access. Previous spread, bottom, from left: The center's double-glazed wall. The conference room's custom wall covering of lenticular vinyl. The rest rooms' doors in aluminum honeycomb with cast-resin facing. A wall of orange polycarbonate core on one side of a main corridor casting a reflection onto the opposing wall of resin-and-aluminum honeycomb. A lounge's Piero Lissoni chairs in vinyl-coated foam.

Top: A wall in the campus center's lobby features printed glass portraits of the seven IIT founders, including Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, who designed IIT's main campus and served as the school's director of architecture from 1938 to 1958. Center: Aluminum-framed panels of glass compose the west facade. Bottom: New York multidisciplinary firm 2x4 designed the lobby's glass wall illustrating student activities.

Opposite: The center's front doors are printed with a portrait of Mies.

Opposite: In the campus center's 2,000-square-foot conference room, Arne Jacobsen chairs line the epoxy floor surface.

Top: One of the campus center's corridor lounges features Piretti Castelli's tables, Lissoni's chairs, and 2x4's graphics. Center: Tinted glass and corrugated stainless-steel panels compose the 570-foot-long facade of State Street Village. Bottom: A typical suite has concrete floors, walls, and ceilings; furniture is custom.

Previous spread, top: Directly above the campus center's concrete-slab roof, the 530-foot-long Tube encloses the tracks of the el. Previous spread, bottom, from left: The Tube's 35-foot diameter. A 250-square-foot room in Murphy/Jahn's State Street Village residence halls, with a custom desk in steel and wood. The Tube's corrugated stainless-steel cladding. A corner of the campus center reflecting an image of the Tube.

Top: In the campus center, computers line a 60-foot-long work surface of up-lit plastic honeycomb panels; the stools are custom. Bottom, from left: The center's ceiling of unfinished drywall. A corridor's glowing contrast to IIT's black-and-white Mies architecture. The Tube's underside, running across the recreation area. A 9-foot-high LED digital clock.

PROJECT TEAM (MURPHY/JAHN): SALIM BOU-SAAB; DAN CUBRIC; JOHN DURBROW; PETER HAYES; CHAD MITCHELL; NAOTAMI YASUDA. PROJECT MANAGERS (OFFICE FOR METROPOLITAN ARCHITECTURE): JONILLA DORSTEN; DAN WOOD. PROJECT ARCHITECTS: ANNE FILSON; JEFFREY JOHNSON; KRISTINA MANIS. PROJECT TEAM: GARY BATES; FRANS BLOK; GRO BONESMO; ELIOT BU; BECCA DUDLEY; MARTIN FELSEN; ADRIANNE FISHER; BRUCE FISHER; CHRISTINA FUCHS; LAURA GILMORE; FERNANDO ROMERO HAVAUX; UWE HERLYN; MATTHIAS HOLLWICH; KRYSTYAN KECK; ADAM KURDAHL; VANESSA DE ASSIS LAMOUNIER; JULIEN MONFORT; CHRISTIAN MLLER; MATTEO POLI; JOSHUA RAMUS; JULIEN DE SMEDT; TUOMAS TOIBONEN; ANGELA VAN DER ZEE. WALL PANELS (HALLS), DOOR PANELS (BATHROOM): PANELITE. WALL COVERING (CONFERENCE ROOM): DESIGNTEX GROUP. CHAIRS (CONFERENCE ROOM): KNOLL. CHAIRS (LOUNGES): KARTELL. FACADE PANELS (CENTER EXTERIOR): GL ASSOCIATES. CUSTOM BED, DESK, ARMOIRE (STUDENT ROOMS): HELTZER FURNITURE. CEILING DRYWALL (CENTER): USG. ENGINEERS (CENTER): ARUP (STRUCTURAL); SKIDMORE, OWINGS MERRILL (MECHANICAL); KIRKEGAARD ASSOCIATES (ACOUSTICAL). ARCHITECT OF RECORD: HOLABIRD ROOT. CONSTRUCTION MANAGER: GILBANE BUILDING COMPANY. CIVIL ENGINEER (CENTER, RESIDENCE): TERRA ENGINEERING CONSTRUCTION CORPORATION. MEP (RESIDENCE): HILL MECHANICAL GROUP. STRUCTURAL ENGINEER: WERNER SOBEK INGENIEURE. LANDSCAPING: INSIDE OUTSIDE PETRA BLAISSE; PETER LINDSAY SCHAUDT LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE. GENERAL CONTRACTOR: W.E. ONEIL.