THOMPSON TAKES HELM OF IIT RESTORATION

Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) President Lew Collens and former Illinois Governor James R. Thompson today unveiled an aggressive plan to complete the next phase of restoration and revitalization at the IIT main campus.

Thompson, who served as Illinois’ Chief Executive from 1977-1991, will chair the newly formed ‘Mies van der Rohe Society,’ charged with raising the remaining $20 million in the second phase of IIT’s multi million-dollar campus master plan. Monies raised for the master plan, first launched in 1995, have already paid for the construction of a new campus center, new residential housing and landscaping.

The $20 million to be raised by the Mies Society will bring additional technological advancements to IIT classrooms and laboratories and simultaneously insure the preservation of landmark, Mies-designed buildings on the IIT campus, named as one of the 200 most significant works of architecture in the U.S. by the American Institute of Architects (AIA).

“I consider myself privileged to accept the challenge of leading this Society, since it is a global distinction for Chicago and Illinois to have been the adopted home of the 20th century’s most influential architect,” Thompson said. “Mies van der Rohe left a legacy of great art, great architecture and great insight into the human need for inspiration from their built environment.”

The $20 million fundraising effort will breathe new life into two of Mies’ masterworks at IIT: Crown Hall, home of IIT’s College of Architecture and a National Historic Landmark; and Wishnick Hall, part of the Armour College of Engineering and Science. Along with preserving the unique, modernist architectural style that Mies brought to Chicago and the world 60 years ago, both buildings will be transformed into state-of-the-art learning centers to enhance IIT’s innovative interprofessional curriculum and growing student enrollment.

“The Society’s efforts will ensure these buildings will continue to fulfill Mies’ vision of a highly technological campus that can accommodate our growing student population and the changing needs of a modern world,” Collens said. “IIT’s legacy of interdisciplinary education is more vibrant than ever, and once again, the university is preparing for another surge of students. IIT’s academic quality and commitment to an expanding interprofessional curriculum is yielding exciting new initiatives throughout the university.”

With IIT’s enrollment on the rise, future phases of the campus master plan will bring similar revitalization to other Mies-designed buildings on the main campus, including Alumni Hall, Carr Chapel, Perlstein Hall and Siegel Hall.

“As IIT enters the 21st century, these buildings require technological upgrades and physical improvements to ensure that they continue to be highly flexible, modern spaces for students and faculty alike,” Collens added.

Thompson, just last week named a co-chairman of the transition board of advisers for Ill. Governor-elect Rod Blagojevich, brings a long-standing passion for architecture and historic restoration to the Mies van der Rohe Society. He spearheaded the preservation of the Mies-designed Farnsworth House in Plano, Ill, considered an outstanding example of international style modernism.

Thompson has led restoration efforts for the Pullman neighborhood on Chicago’s Far South Side and the Dana Thomas Home, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in Springfield, Ill. He also commissioned the Helmut Jahn-designed State of Illinois Center in Chicago’s Loop, later renamed the James R. Thompson Center.

The Society’s formation comes on the heels of renewed world interest in Mies’ contributions to modern architecture. In 2001, his designs and architecture produced two hugely popular traveling exhibits, including showings at Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Whitney Museum in New York City.

“IIT was Mies’ professional home for more than 20 years. It was the place he went to work everyday,” said Thompson. “No buildings were closer to him than those he built right here. Each reveals something of him and his thought. Each will be treasured for years, one hopes centuries, to come.”

Mies, who died in 1969, was a former dean of IIT’s College of Architecture and designed much of the university’s main campus in the 1940’s and 50’s. Mies’ modernist vision and simple design, primarily using steel and glass, ushered in a new architectural era. He is widely considered the most influential architect of the 20th Century.

“Mies designed these buildings for the level of technology in his day, yet they were also designed with flexibility,” said Dirk Lohan, Mies’ grandson, a well known Chicago architect and IIT Trustee. “Now, some 60 years later, we have a critical responsibility and obligation to not only preserve the past, but also renew my grandfather’s original vision to state-of-the-art to meet the changing educational needs of students in the new millennium.”

Along with restoring the older Mies campus, two new buildings now under construction are widely viewed as a stunning compliment to Mies’ original design and a further enhancement of IIT’s architectural significance. The new McCormick Tribune Campus Center, designed by Rem Koolhaas and a new Helmut Jahn-designed student residence hall, both at 33rd and State Streets, are slated for completion in November 2003.

Founded in 1890, IIT is a Ph.D.-granting technological university awarding degrees in the sciences, mathematics and engineering, as well as architecture, psychology, design, business and law. IIT’s interprofessional, technology-focused curriculum prepares the university’s 6,200 students for leadership roles in an increasingly complex and culturally diverse global workplace.