| |
The Incubator South was
originally designed as an industrial research and testing facility for
railroad technology by Mies van der Rohe in 1944. The neighboring building
the new Technology Business Center opened as a laboratory facility in 1959
and was designed by Schmidt, Garden, and Erikson. These connected buildings
have been transformed to create a state of the art incubator facility for
start ups. Due to material shortages, the original window systems of
Incubator South were constructed of wood an exception for the Mies
buildings at IIT. A major part of this project was painstakingly restoring
the wood windows and the two-story steel and glass enclosure surrounding an
original Mies stair. Although the exterior of the Technology Business Center
was restored to its original appearance, the interior has been dramatically
altered to include a 4,000 square foot atrium, which sheds natural light
into the offices and laboratories. The jury noted that this sensitive
rehabilitation is a great reinvention of an often misunderstood
architectural style.
Photo credits: 1-5 Courtesy of
IIT; 6 Hedrich Blessing
|
|
