Mies van der Rohe Society (Mies Society) was formed twenty years ago in order to share knowledge of the Illinois Institute of Technology Mies Campus as an important architectural center and resource as a world-class institution. Other benefits were conceived of as attracting new friends to the university while encouraging  philanthropy in order to complete physical and new built environment goals of Illinois Tech.

PRESS RELEASE
Illinois Institute of Technology, November 2002

First Board of Directors

Ill. Governor James R. Thompson Jr.*, Chair
John W. Rowe*, Vice Chair

John H. Bryan Jr.*
Lester Crown
Sondra Epstein* 
Helmut Jahn, FAIA*
Hekmat E. Jha
Trustee Patrick Kelly
Dirk Lohan
Seymour H. Persky*
Bob A. Pritzker (IE ’46)*
Maria Smithburg 
Allen M. Turner
Robert “Bob” A. Wislow

Thompson Takes Helm of IIT Restoration

Former Ill. Governor launches new “Society”

$20 million needed to finish next phase of Mies Campus revitalization

CHICAGO—November 19, 2002—Illinois Institute of Technology 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 (now Illinois Tech) 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 Mies Society will bring additional technological advancements to classrooms and laboratories and simultaneously insure the preservation of landmark, Mies-designed buildings on Mies 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 twentieth century’s most influential architect,” Thompson says. “[Ludwig] 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: S. R. Crown Hall, home of IIT College of Architecture and a National Historic Landmark; and Wishnick Hall, part of the Armour College of Engineering and Science [now Armour College of Engineering]. 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 says. “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 Memorial Hall, Robert F. Carr Memorial Chapel of St. Savior, Perlstein Hall, and Siegel Hall.

“As IIT enters the twenty-first 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 adds.

Thompson has led restoration efforts for the Pullman neighborhood on Chicago’s Far South Side and the Dana-Thomas House, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, in Springfield, Illinois. He also commissioned the Helmut Jahn-designed State of Illinois Center in Chicago 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 three hugely popular traveling exhibits, including showings at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Whitney Museum of American Art, [both] in New York City.

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

Mies, who died in 1969, was a former dean of IIT College of Architecture and designed much of the university’s main campus in the 1940s and 50s. 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 twentieth century.

“Mies designed these buildings for the level of technology in his day, yet they were also designed with flexibility,” says 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 1980, 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 has developed an interprofessional, technology-focused curriculum that prepares its 6,200 students for leadership in an increasingly complex and culturally diverse global workplace.

Sixty-two years ago, the merger of the former Armour and Lewis Institutes created Illinois Institute of Technology. The union set an early tone for IIT’s curriculum: Armour’s emphasis on technology and Lewis' focus on the humanities created a rigorous technological university with a distinctly interdisciplinary bent.

To mark the beginning of this new university, IIT commissioned Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, then chairman of the Department of Architecture, to design the campus master plan. If the merger defined academics at IIT, Mies’ vision for the campus decided its character. The IIT Campus Master Plan, unveiled in 1941, was a radically new kind of campus. Mies applied the Bauhaus philosophy of synthesizing aesthetics and technology, and he carved a collection of minimalist, modern buildings out of steel and glass. Mies’ design was also pragmatic—making it possible to construct the buildings quickly and affordably, which was critically important in the post-World War II years when IIT was flooded by students attending on the G.I. Bill.

Today, 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, and it is helping IIT attract ever-greater numbers of talented students from around the world. This interdisciplinary perspective has inspired new initiatives in biomedical engineering, math and science teacher education, and entrepreneurship—and like the campus itself, each is a pioneering response to practical needs. The university is also in the midst of its first building campaign in more than twenty-five years and, fittingly, the new McCormick Tribune Campus Center and the new student residence hall are the work of two renowned architects, Rem Koolhaas and Helmut Jahn.

Rejuvenating Mies Campus is a vital step in IIT’s renaissance. Mies’ concept of “universal space” created buildings that could play many roles and meet any need—even those he could not have foreseen. As IIT enters the twenty-first century, the buildings require technological upgrades and physical improvements to ensure that they continue to be highly flexible, modern spaces for students and faculty alike. Accordingly, IIT has established the Mies van der Rohe Society, which will be committed to the preservation and revitalization of its historic Mies Campus. Its efforts will ensure that the buildings will continue to fulfill Mies’ vision of a highly technological campus that can accommodate the changing needs of a modern world.

However, the preservation of Mies Campus is more than ensuring its continued relevance as a place of higher education—as important as that is to Mies’ legacy as an educator and architect.Mies Campus is a masterwork of one of the most important architects of the twentieth century, and it is home to S. R. Crown Hall, a National Historic Landmark, and Robert F. Carr Memorial Chapel of St. Savior, the only place of worship Mies ever built. It is the largest cluster of Mies buildings anywhere in the world, and it was where he worked for twenty years. Its significance extends beyond its role as a campus: It is a place of great historic significance, and as such, its vitality is a community responsibility. Its legacy is one that speaks to all of us, whether we live in Chicago or a world away, and I hope that each of you will respond by joining Mies Society.