FEATURE STORY — September/October 2008

Lasting Impression

Walter Netsch Photo by Olando Cabanban

Distinguished architect Walter Netsch created a university campus like no other

By David Veenstra

 

Internationally acclaimed architect Walter Netsch, the designer of the East Campus, and perhaps the individual most responsible for shaping the UIC experience for countless students, alumni and faculty, died on June 15 after several years of declining health. His innovative design, at times both inspiring and frustrating, became a nationally known model for urban campuses.

Netsch grew up in Chicago’s South Shore neighborhood. As a child, he practiced making buildings with the packages that his father, a vice president at the meat-packing company Armour & Co., brought home from work. Tall, lanky and with a booming voice, Netsch graduated from MIT in 1943, then joined Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, a Chicago-based architecture firm, in 1947.

His first project was the Atomic Energy Commission town at Oak Ridge, Tenn. Afterward, he designed the Inland Steel building, U.S. Naval Postgraduate School and U.S. Air Force Academy (including its landmark 17-spired Cadet Chapel). In 1961, the University of Illinois selected Netsch and SOM to design its new Chicago campus.

For Netsch, the University of Illinois at Chicago Circle presented a unique opportunity. No academic institution had ever constructed a campus of this magnitude in such a short period of time.

Netsch believed that technology and purposeful design could improve society. He drew 20 designs for the proposed campus, which were completed before either the site or academic profile had been finalized.

Netsch eventually settled on four designs. The first was a traditional campus, similar to Urbana-Champaign. The second was a junior college/senior college scheme, where general education courses would be delivered in one campus core and higher-level courses in another. The third consisted of four self-contained colleges surrounding a central research library. This was his favorite, but University officials worried that it would increase faculty costs.

The fourth design (approved by the University) incorporated elements found at Netsch’s alma mater MIT, which like UICC had limited space. MIT’s design had compensated for this by creating linkages to a central building, which helped encourage intellectual exchange.

Walter Netsch’s design of Chicago Circle campus earned numerous awards, including one from the American Institute of Architects. Clark Kerr, then-president of the University of California, called the design “the pioneer for higher education facilities in large cities.” Photo courtesy of Office of the UIC Historian

Netsch designed the UICC campus to mimic the concentric rings emanating from a drop of water in a pond, arranging buildings by function rather than by academic discipline. At the campus core was the Forum, a Greek-style amphitheater built for plays, assemblies and social interaction, or “meeting in the corridor on a grand-scale.” The next ring had the classroom clusters, anchored by the library and student union (Circle Center). The third and fourth rings were, respectively, the offices and laboratories (including University Hall), and the athletic fields. The rings were tied together by a series of second-floor pedestrian walkways, which would allow as many as 32,000 students daily (60,000 in one scenario) to easily transverse an area roughly the size of Buckingham fountain and its plaza. Surrounding the campus was an eight-foot-high brick wall.

Netsch envisioned his design as a model for future campuses. He planned for minimal maintenance by specifying durable building materials such as Minnesota granite for the walkways and concrete and brick for the buildings. In addition, he designed classroom walls with narrow window slats to eliminate the need for window shades to darken rooms when using projectors.

The design of several buildings—Science and Engineering South, the Behavioral Sciences Building and the Architecture and Arts Building—reflected Netsch’s experimentation with “Field Theory,” a design process that superimposed squares at different angles to create geometric patterns.

The new campus opened in February 1965. Netsch’s design earned him a number of prestigious awards, including one from the American Institute of Architects. Clark Kerr, president of the University of California, called it the “pioneer model for higher educational facilities in large cities.”

However, not everyone was impressed with the design. Many found the use of concrete and granite harsh and alienating. This, along with its seeming isolation from the community, led architecture critic M.W. Newman to dub it “Fortress Illini.”

As time passed, some design elements such as walkways seemed redundant when the projected student population never materialized. Furthermore, the walkways often created a dreary campus atmosphere for students and faculty alike.

In 1992, the University of Illinois hired Chicago-based architecture firm Daniel P. Coffey and Associates to survey the campus and prepare recommendations. The firm’s approved campus redesign resulted in a new campus core, additional green space and the demolition of the Forum and upper walkways. Netsch had offered to redesign it for free, but the University declined his assistance. Despite the complaints, however, Netsch’s campus has proven to be remarkably durable and functional. And in recent years, there has been a new appreciation for Netch’s design, culminating in UIC presenting him with an honorary doctorate this past May.