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Mies’ Original Master Plan
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe's Master Plan for the IIT campus was one of the largest projects he ever conceived and the only to come so close to achieving complete realization. The campus encompasses 20 of his works—the greatest concentration of Mies-designed buildings in the world.
Mies’ master plan was a notable departure
from traditional college quadrangles and limestone buildings. In
the Mies plan, the space between and within buildings was organized
around a 24-foot grid. The spatial module provided rhythm and coherence,
while ensuring flexibility and architectural unity for
campus building projects of the future. The two- and three-story
buildings tend to slide past each other, leading visually from one
exterior space to another. Mies also planned interior space with
maximum flexibility to accommodate future needs. The simple palette
of steel, glass, and buff-colored brick drawn from the factories
and warehouses of Chicago’s South Side provided an adaptable
module to express various functions within the buildings.
After World War II, the IIT campus developed at the rate of two buildings per year until 1968. Mies himself supervised construction during the early years of rapid expansion and was able to keep construction costs at $10 a square foot—well below industry averages. Mies used the IIT campus as a laboratory to perfect his architectural philosophy—with each building he found new solutions and learned how to make less more. The overall campus plan is elegantly cohesive and orderly, and Mies' space has a free-flowing quality that is not walled-in or static. His genius hinged on a simplicity of design and lack of ornamentation that highlighted natural order and classical style.
 Mies'
approach was certainly innovative, but it is the artistry in the
execution that makes IIT’s campus an international
destination for modern architecture enthusiasts. Here Mies crafted
and refined the grammar of the modern architectural language and
perfected its ideas, structures, proportions, and geometry. The
American Institute of Architects named the IIT campus one of the
200 most significant works of architecture in the United States.
 S.R. Crown Hall, home to the College of Architecture, is the most
celebrated of the individual buildings. A groundbreaking combination
of steel and glass, it is a National Historic Landmark that many
consider one of the most important buildings of the twentieth century.
Mies’ Influence on IIT's College of Architecture
With its open spaces and interactive learning environment, Crown
Hall reflects not only Mies’ approach to architecture but
his approach to architectural education. Even as he was planning
and building an innovative new campus, he was also revolutionizing
IIT's curriculum. Mies taught architecture
as more than a series of formulas or solutions. Today's students
still benefit from this approach, which melds art and technology
and develops basic skills before progressing to more advanced
innovation and design theory.
Mies cultivated a College of Architecture whose graduates have
gone on to build some of the most acclaimed buildings of the late
twentieth century.
Learn more about them…
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