This photo was taken from inside the auditorium building at Illinois Institute of Technology designed by Mies van der Rohe. After my brother's wedding we drove into Chicago and at my request went on a brief self-guided tour of the famous architect's legacy. My family's critique was that all the buildings seemed to look the same, a concrete pavilion surrounded by a glass curtain, but they were kind of right. New partitions and divisions popped up in the building like a tent city, as it must have seemed unnecessary to build 25ft tall dividers to hide less than 6ft tall people. It was interesting to see the accumulation of decay in the building from weather damage, the steel I-beams were weeping with rust.
whether true or not I identified this clock as something close to the original building. It seemed to be placed there aware of the original scale of the building. as was this exit sign.
The large windows seemed the most unapologetic and beautiful element to the whole architectural scheme. They produced a simple gesture to appreciate the trees planted right outside and changing color. Perhaps a gesture to expand the space of the building and its purpose beyond the walls. The current reality of which seems sorry, i.e. the awkward re-division of space and disrepair. Although not shown here it seems Mies van der Rohe had designed ways to partition the space through a series of curtains, an unobtrusive solution rather than standard office partitions.
No comments:
Post a Comment