Mies Building Spotlight Archive
Research Institute (IITRI) Minerals and Metals Research Building
*Addition by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, 1958.
The Minerals and Metals (M&M) Research Buildings is the first Mies-designed structure on Illinois Tech’s campus. His earliest completed work in the United States, the building exploits the advantages of steel, a material more typical of construction in the U.S. than in Germany. Well-suited to the technological needs of the day in general, steel also seemed an appropriate choice for a technical university in particular. Mies constructed the entire frame of the Minerals and Metals Research Building—vertical and horizontal members alike--of wide-flange beams and mullions. The freestanding walls of the building were designed in glass and brick and were inserted within the frame. Indicative of the primacy of structure in the abstract, the wide-flange steel section would later become Mies’ signature element.
That the building occupied a transitional place in Mies’s body of work is apparent on the south end elevation, where columns and spandrels are connected by bolts rather than by welding, which later became standard at Illinois Tech. Nonetheless, the closest thing to its dynamic use of steel in the U.S. was the industrial plant architecture of Albert Kahn. Relative to the vocabulary of buildings at other American technical universities, the Minerals and Metals Research Building qualified as a revolutionary structural effort.
Oddly enough, the columns of the building are not visible at all on the exterior, where a glass wall and a brick apron conceal them. Early sketches suggest that at one point Mies did consider revealing the columns externally but ruled against it, a decision that resulted, unhappily, in cracks in the brick wall at the mullion points. In later Illinois Tech buildings, he exposed the columns on the face of the wall, between brick spandrel panels laid in Flemish bond.
1943 (addition, 1958) Mies van der Rohe, Architect. Holabird & Root, associated architects, George Sollit Construcion Co.
Images courtesy of University Archives and Special Collections, Paul V. Galvin Library, Illinois Institute of Technology
On the building’s interior, the wide flange of the fully constituted frame is most evident. The differentiation of the interior, which houses a three-story foundry hall flanked by three floors of laboratories and offices, was made readable originally on the end wall of the building. There the surface of the metal frame appeared on the brick walls as a geometric pattern. Also externally indicated by the wider fascia at the second-story level was the balcony that overlooks the main floor of the hall. This early display of Mies’s oft-quoted concern for clarity of expression led some observers to speculate that the building’s structural system was derived from the geometric abstractions of the Dutch modernist painter Piet Mondrian, an influence that Mies denied. The truth behind this speculation became academic when the wall was made part of the interior by the 1958 six-bay addition to the north, which maintained the height and width of the first structure but did not continue the space of the foundry hall. Thus, with no need to suggest the presence of a large space, Mies was content to extend the pattern of clerestory windows around the three added elevations, rendered in brick and laid in English bond.
It is worth adding that the Minerals and Metals Research Building was a relatively long, narrow, single-span structure—figured in a typological distinction made by Mies. He saw such buildings as “Gothic” since they were linear systems that could be cut off anywhere along their length. Double-span structures with square bays were regarded as characteristic of the Renaissance, hence, Classical.
This section was derived largely from Franz Schulze, The Campus Guide, Illinois Institute of Technology, An Architectural Tour by Franz Schulze, with Photographs by Richard Barnes, Foreword by Lew Collens (Princeton Press, New York, 2005), pp. 21-23.
Technology Park North (Tech North)
University Archives and Special Collections, Paul V. Galvin Library, Illinois Institute of Technology
Technology Park Buildings, Historically Known as The Institute of Gas Technology Complex
At the time S. R. Crown Hall (Crown Hall) opened in 1956, 34th Street crossed the campus. Thus, the entrance to Crown Hall was placed on its south façade, facing the street. Further south was the Institute of Gas Technology Complex. Although the street has been covered over with lawns and pathways, the entrance remains as designed by Mies. (Schulze p. 52)
The Institute of Gas Technology was established in 1941. Housed in five buildings located in the southern portion of the campus and west of State Street, Mies designed two of these buildings, Tech North (3410 S. State Street) and Tech South (3440 S. State Street) in 1950 and 1955 respectively. The building in between these two—Tech Central designed by Schmidt, Garden and Erickson in 1965—was to provide additional space and utilized the same architectural vocabulary as Mies’ buildings. The connecting structures, known as the Power plant (1964) and the Crossover (1977), served as mechanical support and became the interstitial spaces connecting all of these buildings at ground level.
Tech North and Tech Central are being prepared to provide additional space in the form of classrooms, faculty offices, and support for the College of Architecture. Tech South is now being considered for best uses. Interestingly, Tech South’s original Mies design contained a nuclear reactor hall. This tall vertical space was meticulously designed with a solid, low-vibration floor and an overhead crane—a valuable space for physical science instruments and experiments. The reactor was privately owned for industrial research and, as a result, over 700 papers were published on the operation and optimization of nuclear reactors according to Emeritus Professor of Physics Daniel M. Kaplan.
Technology Park Central (Tech Central)
University Archives and Special Collections, Paul V. Galvin Library, Illinois Institute of Technology
Technology Park South (Tech South)
University Archives and Special Collections, Paul V. Galvin Library, Illinois Institute of Technology
The Interprofessional Projects (IPRO) Program class, Mindful Modern Buildings, taught by Cynthia Vranas Olsen, director of the Mies Society, has been exploring the Institute of Gas Technology Buildings and their interstitial spaces—between Michael Paul Galvin Tower and south entrance of Crown Hall. The premise is such that architectural spaces set within this urban campus can be used to improve academic, research, and social interactions while impacting campus viability and visibility. The 50-student body makeup includes disciplines in architecture; architectural engineering; civil, mechanical, electrical, and computer engineering; psychology; sociology; global studies; food science; and computer sciences underline Illinois Tech President Raj Echambadi’s goal to allow its university community to benefit from such spaces on campus while providing a beacon of light for the surrounding neighborhoods of Bronzeville, City of Chicago, and beyond. The students will continue to work with facilities and the Mies Society Board of Directors to develop concepts for these buildings and spaces.
A Mies Society-led fundraising project to benefit these buildings—in particular, Tech North, at 3410 S. State—is now underway. The first phase of restoration would include façade work. Repair of the limestone steps and its associated foundation work, brick repairs flanking the steps, the possible relocation of the accessible ramp to the west side of the building allowing for the original configuration of the front porch and counter balanced entry doors, and lobby restoration of the terrazzo floor are all being considered.
Schultz, Franz, The Campus Guide, Illinois Institute of Technology, An Architectural Tour by Franz Schulz, Foreword by Lew Collens. Princeton Architectural Press, New York, 2005.
Interprofessional Projects (IPRO) Program students from Mindful Modern Buildings, Fall 2023
Association of American Railroads Complex, Schulze 2005, p. 58. Currently the VanderCook College of Music, 3140 S. Federal Street, the Main Building is used for classrooms, administrative offices, and student activities. Image: Schulze 2005, p. 58.
Association of American Railroads (AAR) Complex
A trio of Mies van der Rohe-designed buildings grace the north end of Illinois Tech’s Mies Campus. Originally known as the Association of American Railroads (AAR) Complex, these three buildings are:
AAR Technical Center, 1950
AAR Mechanical Engineering Research Laboratory, 1953
AAR Engineering Research Laboratory, 1956
All have been—or are currently being—repurposed for various uses celebrating the universal space inherently available in Mies’ structures. The buildings’ ultimate versatility and flexibility are a true testament to Mies’ extraordinary design.
Both the Technical Center and the Engineering Research Laboratory are based fundamentally on the model of a steel system with glass and brick curtain walls set by Alumni Memorial Hall and followed in Perlstein, Wishnick, and Siegel Halls. Unlike those four buildings, however, the corner details of the Technical Center is notable for brick that rises higher at the base of the wall before the steel begins above. In a more noticeable contrast, the corner of the Engineering Research Laboratory features back-to-back wide-flanges that run the entire length of the column.
A similar use of the wide-flange is evident in the Mechanical Engineering Research Laboratory, but there the treatment of the elevation of the building is unique among Mies’ campus designs since brick is used on most of the two short sides, while the fenestration on the long sides consists of bays each with 12 windows[1]. Today the Technical Center and the Engineering Research Laboratory are leased to VanderCook College of Music.
VanderCook College of Music has completed several renovation plans that added space to rehearsal areas, ensemble rooms, and practice/teaching studios used for private lessons, individual practices, and small chamber ensemble rehearsals.
Association of American Railroads Complex. Currently leased to the VanderCook College of Music, Dr. Keith Mardak Performing Arts Center, 3125 S. Federal St. Photo by Hedrich Blessing.
Association of American Railroads Complex (interior). Currently utilized by Illinois Institute of Technology Facilities, 3100 S. Federal St. Photo by Hedrich Blessing (image cropped).
The Mechanical Engineering Research Laboratory building currently being utilized by Facilities is being transformed to establish the Kaplan Family Student Fabrication Center! Its close proximity to the Ed Kaplan Family Institute for Innovation and Tech Entrepreneurship makes it an ideal complement to a whole host of services contributing to student and faculty research, ingenuity, and success. A generous lead gift from Ed Kaplan (ME ’65) will help to make this renovation a reality. This unique space will have a tremendous impact on the students at Illinois Tech—now and for generations to come.
[1] Schultz, Franz, The Campus Guide, Illinois Institute of Technology, An Architectural Tour by Franz Schulz, Foreword by Lew Collens. Princeton Architectural Press, New York, 2005.