Can anything be done to save UIC from an eternity of brutal, disasterous architecture? I ask this question as an alumni who was there when this institution opened by the circle interchange.
To answer this question, youÂ'd have to share my assumption that the Walter Netsch designed campus couldnÂ't have been more unfortunate for both the university and the city.
A 1960Â's style concrete fortress, it was more designed to keep the city out than to become integrated into it. Its harsh, minimalist architecture fell into disrepute shortly after its inception, a time when US cities like Chicago were edgy places and much of the cityÂ's life blood was flowing to the suburbs. UIC could only have been built in an era when expressways ripped the fabric out of urban neighborhoods and high rise warehouses were built to segregate the poor and racial minorities. It was a area when warmth and style were not synonymous with great architecture.
Since the time the Circle campus was created, newer additions have softened the blow and have been more sensitive to the surrounding (and now far-more-inviting) city. The residential complex at Harrison-Halsted is an example of such an improvement. Further humanly scaled university is now occurring south of Roosevelt Road, the universityÂ's south campus being developed along with other components of University Village.
On the original campus, the double deck walkway has been removed, the campus center has been striped of the dank, leaky roof that topped the lecture center and greenery has been brought in throughout. It is a friendlier environment today.
But are there limits to what can be done to improve what may be the unimprovable?
Short of leveling every structure save Hull House from Halsted to Morgan, Harrison to Roosevelt, can the egrigious original mistakes and poor planning be corrected or is UIC condemned to an eternity of poor and downright uninviting and repelling architecture?
I welcome your opinons.now> |
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