IIT plans forget history

ClllCAGO-Although
I applaud the Illnos Institute ofTechnology's
p1ans to revltalize 116
campus, l question the (acl. that it. ,archltect,
Rem Koolhaas. would be allowed to attach his
building to Mie. van der Robe's awardwlnn.ing
COTIUUonsBulldng, alterlng il In such a way
lhat il no longer retains iu pristine and elegant
symmetry. I flnd 11ironie that al a Urne when the
hstonc and aichitectural monumento ln thIs,
city have been for the most part proteeted, or at
least llagged Ior preservstlon,
in ths case no one
i.speaklng out regarding this latest act of archilectural vandalismo
Why i.it that Ihere il; no word from !he stalf
ofthe Cbicago Architectural
Landmark Commission regarding this rnatter? mer. does Ihe
Landroark Preservation
Counci! or Dllnois stand
on ths ssue?
Certainly ths building, now beLng ignored,
whch in I953 reeeived theAmerlcan Institute of
Archtects highesl awaro for arcftecture,
is eligible for landrnark status.
CouId 11be that too many saered cows ara nvalve<! or that too many toes would be stepped
on jf an adverse opinon were staled?
Money contrfbuted to !he Dre!haus Foundaliol1, whch ntated the architectural seleetlon
proeess, a foundation that supporta landmark
preservatlon, has paradoxcaly fostered a bad
architettura!
precedent.
I!seerns we never leam from the past.Lrsmember when Roosevelt Unlversity "remod.
eled" ts great Audltoril!ln Bsnquet lIalllly tearng out 1,ou15 Sullivan's skyl1ghted celng and
replacng it with f1uoresccntlightlng,
folowed
by a celebraton ofthe evenl wth a banquet in

the newly refurblshed space, Now they ara wsely seelting funds to restore the former Audtorum Bsnquet Room lo ts orIgInai splendor. There
was a tme when the CharnIey House by Adler
and SuUlvan was about lo be used as an entrance to a condamInium
~omplex fuat would
have been an embarrassment tor tbe city of Chleago.
Fortunately protests frompreservatlomsts
prevented thls from happening and today thi.
landmark bailding is """tored and safeIy in the
hands of the Societ}, of ArchitecturaI Hislorians.
!t ts noi too late tu ,ave!ha Commona Bailding
from'wanton defacement WhY ean't the unversity request !hat the Cornmons ha reused In a
mON sympathet1c mallner? Does Koolhaas bave
tu use !he buildlng as a loadlng dcck wlth semitralers bscklng Into il? Can't he let the interior
ofthe building be reslored to ts orgnal open
S)'Illmetrical pian wlthoot hls demonstratlve
interventtons? And does he need to place a parkng lot on its oI)' remanng open corner elevatlon?
Il would not take mncnto rethlnk thls aspsct
of the project and stili retaIn a dlalog between
Koolhaas' bullding, the "U' tracks and Mies' architecture, Ara we sa nalve as lo Ihink that Il
has to be dona In such 8 destructve mannsr?
Are Wl! 50 blInded by tbe glamour of htrlng
outside ceIebrlty arehtects that lII1e accept bis
novel ideas at the expense of dilutLng the profaund architeetural
contributlons
made by a
towarlng figure cf our tinre and city?
John VInti
\1nd'/l(l\mpArc]u'l2c1s
(ne'.
,\I:ijUl\dp.rof'tfa)f
lIutitule c('n!<:ImoIog;'

unaots

Mies forces 1000

preservaion
battle over new
llT building
S, __

10

TfUIIUNf. ARCH!'rtC'n1R1.. CIliTlC

n a victor y for renowned

ar chttect Rcm Hoolhaas,

state preservation otncials
have rever-eed an ee rlier
recemmendarcn
that called for
01 elear seperaelon between rhe
ne w C3rnpU6 center at tb e lll
no ls tnsmcte
cf Technolog y
and an adjoning campus buldinG by t he late maarer mcuer nist Ludwig Mies V3n der
Rcbc.
"1 think t's 3 setbeck for
preservation."
sete Ch icagu
arehtect JOM vnct. an adjunct
prcfeescr of architecture at ll'I'
and an esteemed ereservauon.
Ist. "l! you can do this to B Mle.'J
buluing. you can do thts to anythlng."
But Bill Wheeler, the associere mrector or tne lllinai! Hlstotfc Preservatlon Agency. tbe
sta", body charged wUh protect.
-

ing Iandmarks,
c.barscteri1ed
tne latesr plen al "afinal compromise
that everyone waa
happy Wlth.','
The coro
the dJJputo 1.'1
Whether the campua c:entit, 00'11I

or

g:~bnu~~~l~~
~:J~~r:t~~
IIbould direetly ebut the soutb
end
tb~ Commons,l'l sreetIlJJd-dlw pavillon tIIoUihllo be
a prec uraor to Mies' epccbdefinlng crewn 1W1'a\3360 S.
StateSt,

or

KooUta86, who recetved th.e

2000 Pritzkt!r
Architecture
Prze, 'Ul:K1!sted thal tIIe!WO bo
linked in his cornpertton-wtnnlng design [or tho '-"6.5 million
CAWpUS center project. Under
1\i5 plen. the Commons. ncw

home to a atore and other usee.