Monday, March 4, 2013

Living in the Brownfield - City of the Big Shoulders


As an architectural element, the cantilever has often been used to evoke strong feelings; Walter Netsch’s design for University Hall at University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) is one of brutalism’s most compelling cantilever designs. Skidmore Owings and Merrill (SOM), under the leadership of Walter Netsch, designed and completed the first phase of UIC’s campus in 1965. UIC is a landmark campus that deserves greater public exposure, careful rehabilitation, and acknowledgement for its role in defining an era for Chicago, the firm of SOM, and Brutalist architecture.
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William Deegan - University Hall 2012
The “Save Prentice” movement began as a grassroots effort to save Prentice Women’s Hospital, another Chicago Brutalist masterwork, but grew into an examination of brutalism’s role in modern cities. For many, Chicago and UIC are foundaries of architectural thinking, places where architectural history, academic theories and modern practice come together in Netsch’s built forms.
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William Deegan - University Hall 2012
After a recent trip to UIC, and in pursuit of a re-examination of Netsch’s work, I called upon mobile artist and SFA favorite Lynette Jackson. Lynette and I collaborated to create a photographic essay in shared admiration of Netsch’s efforts at UIC.  As a crucial element of this country’s architectural history, UIC is shockingly underappreciated. Our collaboration attempts to distribute images of Netsch’s work to a wider audience, building awareness of the need to preserve these landmarks.

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William Deegan - University Hall 2012
On a 100-degree day in June 2012, I took and edited photographs of UIC completely on my iPhone. Through an all-digital collaborative “architectural iphonography” process, Lynette and I worked to develop the images into the graphic interpretations they became. In the final product, University Hall’s projecting, cantilevering mass is framed as the upward rising set of “big shoulders” that Netsch cited in Carl Sandburg’s 1914 poem “Chicago.”

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Lynette Jackson - University Hall 2012

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"Chicago" by Carl Sandburg


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Lynette Jackson - University Hall 2012
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Lynette Jackson - University Hall 2012

As always, we advocate supporting the arts and the artist. Please see more of Lynette Jackson's work at her Flickr site and follow her on Instagram: 
Instagram  @_lynettejackson

For more information on Walter Netsch and the UIC Campus visit:

I'd like to thank Lynette for collaborating with us on this project and being a creative friend to many on Instagram.  
Special thanks to Kate Carter at Spillman Farmer Architects for collaborating with me in both word and idea. Kate's push to refine and focus brings out the best in our teams.
This post is dedicated to the memory of Douglas Garofalo whose teaching inspired many students throughout his tenure at the UIC School of Architecture.




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