Walter Netsch

Transcription

[ background music ] >> Welcome to the east side of the University of Illinois in Chicago, which opened in 1965 in the cities historic culturally diverse near west side. Mayor Richard Jay Daily knew Chicago needed a world class comprehensive public university to serve Chicago's working families and stimulate economic growth. 45 years later UIC is the largest university in the Chicago area, serving over 27,000 students in 15 colleges. Famed Skidmore Owings and Merrill Architect Walter Netsch who also designed the United States Air Force Academy, was tasked with creating a campus intended as a laboratory of new educational ideas. Netsch applied his unique vision to simple forms and elemental materials to create UIC's east side, which was at the time the only campus in the country designed and built entirely in the angular geometric style known as brutalism. Join UIC alumnist Jason Marcus Wack [assumed spelling] as he explores the fascinating story of UIC's east side from the very beginning to its bright and shinning future. >> The 1960s is a boom time for campus construction. Examples of this are the state university of New York as well as the University of California systems which are putting up multiple campuses throughout their states. But everyone's looking at the University of Illinois Chicago Circle, now UIC, as the for runner during this boom time. It's won numerous awards within the profession of architecture and prominent university administrator Clark Kerr comes to campus in 1966 and deems this campus the future of higher education. Ground breaking for the campus took place on 17 October 1963. Site selection for the campus was in the Harrison and Hallstead neighborhood on 105 acre plot of land on the near west side. Mayor Richard J Daily was adamant that the campus would be accessible to students. The campus is easily accessible to CTA and elevated train lines. Because of its close proximity to a circular interchange and three major expressways, the campus's original name is The University of Illinois Chicago Circle. It is also easily accessible to commuter trains at Union and Northwestern stations. The northwest corner of University Hall and Harrison Morgan is where the imprint for our residents is most visible. These imprints serve as a reminder that a great price was paid for the students and Chicago and Illinois to get a University Illinois education here in the heart of the city. Mayor Daily was often asked what about us by residents, why aren't you thinking of us? He would often say I'm not thinking of you, I'm honestly thinking of your children and your grand children. The fact that 1 in 10 Chicagoans who has a college degree has it from UIC, speaks to the fact that the greater good was served. The campus is designed as a metaphor of a stone dropped in a pot of water. The point of impact is the circle forum now known as the quad, followed by concentric circles. These circles consisted on groupings of buildings such as lecture centers, laboratories, offices, student center and library. I'm sitting here in the circle forum which opened in 1965. In the 1990s when the campus was reconstructed it became known as the quad with its open space replacing the Greek amphitheater which once set here. Traditionally and currently it served as a center piece for campus life, hosting such things as protests, concerts, performances and various other activities. Parts of the campus design utilize fuel theory. It consisted of rotating simple squares into complex geometric elements radiating outward from central pores. Netsch was seeking to move beyond the boredom of the box. DNA double helix served as the inspiration for the art and architecture building interior. Other [inaudible] buildings include behavioral sciences building behind me, BSB, as well as science and engineering south, or SES. Walter Netsch designed the campus for projected 32,000 students in the small confines of 105 acres. The second level walkways were needed to move that amount of student traffic in such a confined space. For the first 30 years, students used this extensive system of pedestrian expressways to traverse the campus. Constructed of concrete and slabs of nearly indestructible Minnesota Granite they were 10 by 20 feet and a foot thick. Unfortunately, the concrete stairways to get to these upper level walkways began to crumble and in the 1990s the walkways came down to green up the campus. Another reminder that we're part of the University of Illinois system are the tiles, prominently featuring block eyes on the floor in the concourse in Student Center East, formally known as Chicago Circle Center. The upper two floors in the classroom buildings in their original design feature long and narrow windows in the form of a block eye. Examples of these classrooms are the cluster of Vernum [phonetic], Taft and Adam's halls. University Hall also features the block eye windows. The dedication plaque displays a quote from Daily: "As great universities make great cities, great cities make great universities. >> For more information about UIC, visit UIC.edu. For more on Walter Netsch and UIC campus find a copy of Eileen Tanner's "The Historic Netsch Campus" or Pictorial History of the University of Illinois Chicago at the UIC bookstore.