Throughout October, Docomomo US/Chicago will be exploring the legacy of urban renewal.

The University of Illinois at Chicago Circle was created between 1963 and 1968 as an “instant campus” in response to major growth in college enrollment following WWII.  Its Brutalist design by Walter Netsch and SOM became a nationally recognized model for other campuses across the country, even as it displaced thousands of neighborhood residents and sparked local grassroots protests through its program of urban renewal. This tour will start and conclude at the famed School of Architecture and include visits to the buildings and spaces at UIC that have delighted and frustrated users since the day they opened.

Our tour will be led by Judith K. De Jong. Judith is an architect, urban designer, and Associate Professor of Architecture at the University of Illinois Chicago whose work investigates the reciprocating relationships between architecture and the city. De Jong’s interest in the future of the Netsch Campus at UIC, combined with her role as Associate Dean of CADA from 2014-2022, produced a pair of exhibitions at Gallery 400, co-curated by Lorelei Stewart, and led to the University’s 2019 international design competition for a Center for the Arts at UIC, won by OMA/KOO. 

More information and registration HERE.

Free / Docomomo members; $20 / non-members

Tour will begin at the main entry of the Architecture and Design Studios building, 845 West Harrison Street, Chicago, IL.

We also hope you’ll join us on Oct. 1 for a walking tour of the former Ogden Avenue, which contains a wealth of residential architecture from the 1970s through the 1990s. More information HERE.

This event is part of Docomomo Tour Day, an annual nationwide celebration of modern architecture and design. For more Tour Day events around the country, click HERE.