IIT STUDENT HOUSING COMPETITION
Chicago, Illinois

PROJECT DESCRIPTION
In creating the first student housing project at IIT in over twenty years, the question posed was, “Is student life on the academic side or the residential side of the IIT campus? “ The answer was BOTH.  The  design combined the taut contrapuntal composition of Mies Van der Rohe’s academic buildings with his more casual residential complex, celebrating the “Both and the And”. 
Visual and physical connections were made between the two sides bisected by the elevated train tracks. The design had three zones – the living quarters, the “physical internet” and the transition between. The creation of a “physical internet”, consisting of study rooms, computer facilities, eating areas, mail and copy rooms, health club, laundry facilities and other common services allowed students to gather and interact with one another 24 hours a day, 7 days a week while in close proximity to their living area.  Integrated within this interactive zone as well was the elevated train, allowing for the unique urban condition of the IIT campus to be observed and experienced. .