| | Illinois
Institute of Technology: The Campus Guide,
by Franz Schulze.
The Illinois
Institute of Technology (IIT), on the south side of
Chicago, is in something of a resurgence after the completion
of both Rem Koolhaas & OMA's Campus
Center and Helmut Jahn's neighboring dormitory. Both
buildings sit across State Street from Crown Hall, address
the elevated tracks, and break from the existing Modernist
assemblage, in their own unique way. These buildings partly
owe to a doubling of IIT's architecture program's enrollment
in the last two years. But for the people who don't know
the campus beyond these two new buildings and Mies van der
Rohe's recently-restored
Crown Hall, this book presents three walking tours that
cover all of the school's structures, from the 19th century
main building to the dormitory's east of the "L"
tracks. Written by Franz Schulze -- an expert on Mies as
author of a critical biography of the architecture department's
chair (1938-58) -- and with an introduction by Elisabeth
Logman, the book also includes a brief biography of Mies,
in addition to the maps, photographs, and descriptions of
the walking tours. While Schulz's admiration of Mies comes
across too strong in the negative descriptions of other
buildings, this guide lets the readers see each building
firsthand, so they can make their own judgments.
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