National Register of Historic Places

Illinois Institute of Technology Academic Campus

Chicago, Cook County, Illinois
Listed
August 11, 2005
Type
District
Period
Listed
Ref No.
05000871

About this property

The Illinois Institute of Technology Academic Campus (or Main Campus) is one of the five campuses of the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT), located in Bronzeville on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. It is roughly bounded by 30th Street, Michigan Avenue, 35th Street, and the Rock Island District railroad line. Parts of the campus, comprising 26 buildings between 31st, State, and 35th streets and the Rock Island railroad, are designated as a National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) historic district. The campus includes buildings constructed both by IIT and one of its predecessors, the Armour Institute, which was established in the neighborhood in 1890. Its layout is derived from a master plan devised in the 1940s by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, the director of IIT's architecture school from 1938 to 1958. The Armour Institute included five buildings; three of the remaining structures are part of the NRHP district. These buildings were all designed by Patton & Fisher (later Patton, Fisher & Miller) in the Romanesque style, with red brick and stone facades. When the Armour Institute merged with the Lewis Institute in 1940, Mies was hired to design a master plan for IIT's campus. The first building under his master plan was completed in 1943, and Mies continued to oversee the design until his resignation in 1958. Mies's designs are generally low-rise structures with concrete or steel exterior frames and brick-and-glass facades, although some designs, such as S. R. Crown Hall, deviated from this trend. After Mies's resignation, Walter Netsch and Myron Goldsmith of Skidmore, Owings, & Merrill (SOM) each designed multiple buildings for the campus, largely adhering to Mies's designs. The local firm of Schmidt, Garden & Erikson designed additional buildings for the IIT Research Institute (IITRI). SOM and another firm, Mittelbusher & Tourtelot, designed additional buildings such as dormitories and fraternity houses, which are not included in the NRHP district. After Mies's master plan was completed in 1971, no significant construction occurred for more than two decades. Rem Koolhaas's McCormick Tribune Campus Center and Helmut Jahn's State Street Village were both completed in 2003, and a technology building by John Ronan Architects opened in 2018.

Location

Chicago, Cook County, Illinois
41.83765, -87.62846

Categories

ARCHITECTUREEDUCATION
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

S.R. Crown Hall
Industrial
0.3 mi
Kent, Sydney, House
Industrial
0.3 mi
Unity Hall
Industrial
0.3 mi
Armour Square
Listed
0.4 mi
Kehilath Anshe Ma'ariv Synagogue
Industrial
0.4 mi

Nearby Battles

Red Summer — Chicago Race Riot 1919
1919Modern
1.4 mi

Questions about this property

When was Illinois Institute of Technology Academic Campus listed on the National Register?

Illinois Institute of Technology Academic Campus was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 11, 2005.

What type of historic resource is Illinois Institute of Technology Academic Campus?

Illinois Institute of Technology Academic Campus is classified as a district in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Illinois Institute of Technology Academic Campus?

The period of significance for Illinois Institute of Technology Academic Campus is recorded as the listed era.

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