Exploring Chicago’s LOST Elevated Walkways
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 ส.ค. 2024
- Chicago was home to a massive elevated walkway dubbed the “pedestrian highway.” It connected buildings just west of the downtown loop -- at the East Campus of the University of Illinois at Chicago -- and created a multilevel network of human activity. It was designed by Walter Netsch, the architect of the Air Force Academy Campus and famous chapel in Colorado Springs. The walkway was giganitc and monumental. It was even featured in the horror film Candyman from the early 1990s. But, over time, the walkway fell into disrepair and the decision was made to demolish this piece of iconic urban infrastructure. This video explores the history of the pedestrian highway. And, using a full 3D model reconstruction, embarks on a realtime walkthrough to explore what it would have been like to experience in person.
_Link to Explore_
api2.enscape3d.com/v1/view/54...
(Warning: it is a massive file)
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_Chapters_
00:00 Introduction
01:42 Timeline
04:16 Analysis
07:47 3D Modeling
08:41 Walkthrough
11:28 Takeaways
_About the Architecture w/Stewart Channel_
Architecture with Stewart is a TH-cam journey exploring architecture’s deep and enduring stories in all their bewildering glory. Weekly videos and occasional live events breakdown a wide range of topics related to the built environment in order to increase their general understanding and advocate their importance in shaping the world we inhabit.
_About Me_
Stewart Hicks is an architectural design educator that leads studios and lecture courses as an Associate Professor in the School of Architecture at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He also serves as an Associate Dean in the College of Architecture, Design, and the Arts and is the co-founder of the practice Design With Company. His work has earned awards such as the Architecture Record Design Vanguard Award or the Young Architect’s Forum Award and has been featured in exhibitions such as the Chicago Architecture Biennial and Design Miami, as well as at the V&A Museum and Tate Modern in London. His writings can be found in the co-authored book Misguided Tactics for Propriety Calibration, published with the Graham Foundation, as well as essays in MONU magazine, the AIA Journal Manifest, Log, bracket, and the guest-edited issue of MAS Context on the topic of character architecture.
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University of Illinois at Chicago School of Architecture: arch.uic.edu/
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My wife commuted to UIC in the 1970's, back when it was called Circle Campus. Her memories are of a cold, ugly, uninviting, dark place, an impersonal concrete nightmare. She says it always seemed deserted and vaguely unsafe. She remembers how cold it was in the winter as she hustled, completely exposed, from one building to another. This video celebrates, in the abstract, the architectural "experiment," but in fact that experiment badly failed the people it was designed for. It should be studied as an example of how not to design a college campus.
Every single brutalist concrete structure I've ever interacted with gives that feeling of being semi abandoned and unsafe. Only with a critical mass of people does the humanity soften that feeling. If you look at the Ren Cen in Detroit the interior is a perfect example of this.
I started there in 89. The smell of pigeon feces that dripped between the cracks when it rained was great.
Disagree. I enjoyed walking around them. It seemed like you could see the whole campus and city up there. Between classes during the day, it was full of students walking around, felt like a downtown but without the towering buildings closing in and around. During classes, especially in the evening, it seemed as if you had the night to yourself. Loved to eat my lunch on the steps in the main forum and student-watch. The problem was not the design, it was maintenance. If the school had spent the resources to maintain them including their water-seals, maintain the stone, and even paint it in some areas, they would still be around and beautiful today. That is one of the the problems with modern architecture, plenty of imagination but no sense of what it takes to maintain quality over time --- beyond the initial granting of a design contract and winning an award that year. Pretty much the sense of the modern world that created it --- no long term vision on anything. Then again, I went to Circle on the G.I. Bill after serving on U.S. submarines for 4 1/2 years; no doubt my sense of safety and aesthetics was vastly different then most. I thought the sounds of the engineroom and the engineering of the compartment were also much more beautiful than anything put out by modern or post-modern architecture.
My mom would agree with your wife and add to this comment ( if she could, r. i. p. ). My mom had finally became a full time nurse ( Lincoln Nursing School to start ), after moving with my dad to Chicago in 1968. By 1970 - 71 she had already heard... stories about the University of Nursing at UIC "Circle Campus" from students and graduates she worked with, none were "good". Summer after I was born in 1971 she got first hand... experiences and other stories. She had to attend a "certificate course" for her speciality in orthopedics, at this campus. It was a night time course for working professionals, and the Nurses all had some tale of being harassed or accosted, on campus or going to and from the El stations nearby. She found nothing about her time at the UIC campus "pleasant". The design, the layout, nor the architecture, seemed inviting, and created a few spaces that were... inviting to criminal activities... She heard continuing complaints from Nurses that studied there, for the next 10 years, till we moved to FL in 1981. Mom was 40 at the time and just being at UIC and in its "environs" stuck with her the next 40 years of her life.
Badd memm
I'm a boomer who attended Chicago Circle as an undergrad when the central part was complete but new. My main memories of the elevated structure are 1) that it was blazing hot in the summer, which drove you to the lower level for shelter from the sun, and 2) that in Chicago's famous winds, it was searingly cold in winter, which drove you to lower level for protection. Still, it was pretty impressive to walk around in such a place. One other note: I personally never saw much in the way of informal, impromptu gatherings anywhere on top of or underneath the massive granite structure. It was not at all inviting. Later, in grad school downstate, at the University's main campus in Urbana, I would often take my sections outside in fair weather under the trees on the Quad. Aside from weather issues, Circle's outdoor spaces were not at all inviting like this.
Fortunately, I was a music student, so I spent much of my time in the old bra factory on Racine that served as our temporary HQ (faculty offices, classrooms, practice rooms, and rehearsal spaces…though no performance spaces-for that we had to go elsewhere). The central part of the building was left open to form a "cafeteria" with vending machines. Homely as it was, this big old room filled with tables and chairs was very inviting, and we all spent every hour between classes hanging out and interacting informally in this space, which was great for morale and for encouraging personal interactions. Which, btw, was especially valuable on a campus designed for and wholly populated by commuters. There were no dorms on or near campus until much later, long after I left. My roommate and I lived in an apartment in the Near West Side neighborhood, among the small portion of the Italian American community that remained after Circle's granite structure had dispersed the rest. So I would have had no "campus life" at all were it not for that homely old "cafeteria" in the Racine Avenue (temporary) Music Building.
Thank you for sharing!
I think you mean the FormFit building, which was Art and Design classrooms when I was there.
I attended architecture school here in the late 80's early 90's. The walkways were convenient at times but overall a little sterile, awkward and treacherous. Walking under the system at night was ominous with the partially functional fluorescent lighting which glowed dimly behind the dirty lenses of their housings. You never knew who was under there with you or hiding behind one of the many columns. The weather stripping between the slabs of granite was partially hanging with some areas completely gone making navigation under the walkway in the rain a moot point. During the winter the upper walkway was always icy or covered with snow. I often imagined myself slipping and sliding under the chain guardrail to the ground below. The stairs would often be unshoveled with only a small area of exposed tread turning it into an icy ramp. Despite all the negatives, I was sorry to see it go.
You just summed up the benefits and problems perfectly. Humans psychologically prefer wooded biomes. Underneath a walkway is a dense, scary forest where a predator could be behind every tree and little light makes it through the canopy. On top of the walkway is a desert (and in Chicago, a tundra in winter), where you're open and exposed, unable to run and hide from a predator, with so little protection from the elements that it's hotter during the day where you're standing than 100 feet in the air. Also maintenance on them is hell. In theory, with a less sparse top and a filled in bottom (say, maybe make it more like a mall or the Montreal underground system), they could be great.
@@TheSpecialJ11 first off, I love both the original comment and your reply. "Humans psychologically prefer wooded biomes" - I have never heard this before and find this assertion pretty fascinating. Is this coming from psychology, anthropology, or behavioral science? I could certainly see it being true I am just curious of the source and would like to read/ learn more about that.
There were many a violent crime committed there. Women were told not to walk alone in there, and often I lead women from class to class for their safety.
It really wasn't this bad. Walking under in the rain was still far superior that walking IN the rain. As for the "many a terrible crime" or whatever comment, I certainly don't remember one happening in the 2 years I lived on campus, and I walked at all hours of the night from the new dorms to the A and A building. One thing your rendering is missing is the many "rape towers" that were built, with panic button and lights on top.
Same experience here. On the walkway things were pretty nice except several stairways were closed off in winter. -- Underneath, however, it was sometimes difficult to tell if it was day or night and several places were always dripping no matter what the weather.
I was a freshman there in 1970 and always got around campus using the elevated walkway. My assigned locker was in Stevenson Hall, the most northern classroom building on campus. Unfortunately, some of my classes were in buildings at opposite ends of the campus, and I sometimes had to rush from BSB(Behavior Sciences Building) on the north end to SEL(Science and Engineering Labs)on the south end. This video made me fondly remember those days of eating my lunch in the blazing hot sun of the Forum or wondering what was lurking behind the shadowy columns when taking exams in the late evening. Thanks for this.
This structure would be better if the underside was a series of glass walled enclosures that housed cafeterias, reading rooms, a gym, etc. (Maybe more penetrations/skylights to light those spaces) And the topside was tree-lined and more park like.
did you invent a stripmall on campus?
A good strip mall
@@Zaihanisme that’d be one shitty campus
@@karabinjr I was imagining something more akin to OMA+LMN’s Seattle Central Library arranged on an axial/linear plan, with a park on top *or* Saleforce Park with a more “campus services” program.
@@karabinjr why, because it'd provide facilities for the students - non-commercial, mind you - instead of the creepy and dark forest of columns? It'd literally make it safer as well, being more populated with users rather than being barren. Make it make sense.
Thank you for this! I graduated from UIC in 1993. I transferred out of UIC after my first quarter because I felt so cold and dreary whenever I walked around the campus. And yes, that upper-level was so vast and distant and expansive that it felt more exclusionary and foreboding than welcoming. My niece and nephew have graduated from UIC recently, and I was amazed to see how different the campus is. I'm glad UIC changed its course. Thank you for this video, it's extremely well produced and entertaining!
Indeed, Stuart! I saw and walked Walter Netsch's/SOM's dystopian lunar landscape complete with elevated walkways at the Chicago Circle Campus. It was no paradise. As you noted, just because it might look cool in a computer generated reconstruction does not mean it worked in real life.
I went in the early 2000's after the walkways had been torn down, but Netsch's terrible stairs were still all over the place. They were short and long to theoretically fit the natural stride of a person. Instead, they were awkward to use. Shorter than you'd expect, but long enough to where you had to elongate your strides.
My least favorite building would have to be the Behavioral Science Building. Circles on circles of the same looking hallways. Even after having multiple classes in the building, I would still occasionally get lost due to how poorly it was designed. Every space in the building looked identical and lifeless. Netsch's designs were hideous and alienating to be in.
In my opinion, the campus is a glowing example of a complete failure in architecture.
Both the comments here are absolutely spot on.
@@nathaniels.9897 Maybe the Behavioral Science Building is like that for a reason...
I'm an M.Arch student at UIUC, and my friend who is one of your students recommended me your channel. I'm really glad she did because I've always loved the feeling of exploring a building when I'm in an architecture history lecture.
I was on the UIC campus as an engineering student in the late 80s. Many people describe the campus as desolate, bleak, uninviting, and even dangerous. But that is basically the aesthetic of brutalist architecture in general, so goal achieved I guess. Unlike many of the lectures I attended, I found the architecture to be anything but boring, and every day I was there I was fascinated by all of it. It was so different from the generic suburban landscapes I grew up in.
I would find myself wandering the hallways and pathways not because I had a destination, but just because I wanted to see where they went. There were days when, just for fun, I would challenge myself to see if I could get through an entire day there without ever being on ground level. For the times I ended up leaving after dark, walking across campus on the elevated walkways always felt much safer than being on ground level.
The circle forum and surrounding excedras were great places to just hang out in between classes and chill, weather permitting of course. When it rained, walking under the dripping walkways was sometimes "challenging", but it was still better than having to walk across the entire campus exposed to the rain the whole time (and yes I know umbrellas exist).
The most significant memories I have of being on the UIC campus for those years was the architecture. The starkness of the bold lines along with its imperfections gave it character. And it was the sometimes maze-like structure of the layout that invited you to explore the architecture rather than just exist in it.
This was so interesting. I was a grad school TA there 95-96. Wanted to see it looked like at human walking level, not flying above, so checked out the link and it's very interesting! Great for birds, not so much humans. I lived nearby with no parks and used train tracks for nature walks with dog so always wondered why they didn't go leafy oasis like other city campuses...almost like they wanted to keep neighborhood out.
You have no idea, it was really cool. Entering a building on the second floor if your class was on a second floor saved a lot of time, especially if there was a snack area on the first floor, and their were tons of kids just hanging around.
The UK has some 60s universities with a raised walkway model in the same way - Bath and UEA. Parts of London near the Barbican have raised concrete footpaths too, originally forming a cancelled plan to cover the entire city in walkways separated from cars.
What an interesting story that of the cancelled pathways in London.
Downtown Victoria Hong Kong, the same. In the main financial district foreshore area there all the buildings are connected on a concourse level, above the road. It makes a lot of sense in Asian cities. Keep the pedestrian traffic off the narrow streets with trams, cars and delivery vehicles! I like Elon Musk's vision of taking transportation and logistics underground, freeing up the city streets for pedestrians and cyclists.
I appreciate this video. I absolutely loved the UIC campus and was proud to be a part of that era. My dad graduated from Navy Pier, and I started college at UICC but graduated from UIC. I ate lunch with friends in the forum and preferred to walk atop the long, open second story walkways, arriving early in the morning to study outside and lingering long after my last class each evening. Like others’ comments, the winters were brutal, but I really enjoyed the entire experience. Not sure what’s wrong with me! I have nothing but fond memories of my time at the beautiful UIC Campus. Thank you for the opportunity to once again visit the “hallways” of my beloved school.
This makes me wonder whether and how architects consider the decay of their projects over time. Like in this case the areas underneath seem perfect for crime (IANACriminal, so I could be wrong there).
great architecture should stand the test of time, like at least 100 years.. if somebody with a speck of love for art should walk into a dilapidated building 100 years later in ruins, and say 'hey, in its heyday this was beautiful' ,then that's good architecture right there...
case in point, angkor wat and the pyramids..
yeah, architects should design works bearing in mind how its gonna look like in a dystopian mad max future
Sonic, you are not wrong. UIC was terrible for the female students taking night classes because there were just too many places for the bad guys to hide. The fact it was so close to the now demolished Cabrini Green housing projects didn't help.
@@Kosh131 Cabrini Green was relatively far away though, on the near north side by Old Town. Not particularly close to UIC.
@@Kosh131 ABLA homes not Cabrini green
Hating the humans who use your work seems a prerequisite to become a modern "great" architect. Frank Lloyd Wright was truly ahead of him time. 🤣🤣🤣
Brutalism FTW. I love all that Logan's Run stuff. I wish I could have seen this site in person. People who can't appreciate all that concrete obviously aren't skaters. I also like that the recycled granite contributed to the great lakes surfing scene. You're just full of Easter eggs. Yeah, I see those decks on your wall.
Believe me - you didn’t miss much. It was always leaking below and the walkways were not used much. It was just so much concrete. Definitely brutalist. If you saw or experienced it once that was enough. Towards the end you are exactly right. Skaters became some of its biggest users but they had to be careful, otherwise you’d fall right off.
I keep seeing large concrete structures demolished because maintenance is too much to handle--why bother building with the stuff?
@@I_Have_The_Most_Japanese_Music Extremely cheap to build with in the first place, and rebar can add significantly more structural integrity than wood (or inexpertly placed stone) can. It's cheap and it does just about everything one expects from a structure, albeit poorly.
It was pretty awesome
Was checking those out, too. I too love Brutalist architecture, especially Tadao Ando's.
You evoked so many of my memories of using those walkways when attending University of Illinois before all of the redesign and demolition. Well done !
As a student going to this school, I think it would be neat to have this re-built with modern-day materials and technologies. Maybe less concrete and more metal and glass in areas on the bottom level. LED lighting is sort of a game changer for spaces like that too. If we could use modern materials, technologies, and methods to re-create the walkways in a 21st century way it would pay homage to the original design and intent.
While back then the campus population was never too large, it's certainly getting very crowded right now (pre-pandemic). Having two levels for foot-traffic spreads everyone out more, and could be beneficial in that sense.
Also, that meeting circle is very cool. It's sad to see original designs and concepts thrown out.
I enjoyed the obvious personal struggle between the appreciation of architectural vision of a place you inhabit and the realism of hindsight.
It brought humanism to brutalism.
Thank you.
U of I Circle Campus was primarily a commuter school when I attended starting in 1972. I have good, perhaps fanciful, memories of the sky-walk. It was an extension of my daily commute and served as a symbolic rite; a trek that would elevate me from the valley of the CTA train to ground level and then up to a higher level of thinking past the Greek forum to my final destinations. The half-built Sears tower emerging in the distance was a prominent barometer of the advanced society my cohort was preparing for. Where other campuses have statues, the sky-walk was U of I's monument - a blank slate of endless possibilities.
Chicago is by far my favorite large city to go to. Used to go there a lot for work. Any future videos on the older buildings on the riverfront would be awesome
This video is a brilliant example of what can be accomplished in less than 15 minutes. It covers a variety of topics-architecture, history, urban planning-and it’s able to look at them abstractly and concretely. The speaker is articulate, knowledgeable, engaged, and thoughtful.
I was a student at UIC from 1987-90. The walkways gave the campus character and they rendered Daniel Burnham’s exhortation “make no small plans” in concrete and steel. But by the late 1980s walking under them-which you often had to do-was a mess on a rainy or a snow-melting day as they leaked on you, the central forum was typically passed through rather than gathered in, and the video makes the material look white, but my memory is of a grey-taupe concrete.
The Inland Steel building mentioned in this video should be visited if you are in Chicago. It may be the most underrated building in the city.
Thank you for this.
Glad you enjoyed the video! Thank you for the kind words.
Thank you for an amazing trip down memory lane. I was a student at Circle Campus from 1969 to 1973, and remember the walkway system very well. It was an interesting place, though as others have stated...cold and windy in winters, and hot as blazes in summer. As I recall however, parts of the system were already deteriorating by 1972, with spalling concrete, separation at joints, unequal settling, and cracks. Some of the deterioration was so bad that sections of the system were permanently blocked off from use by 1973. Still, it was an interesting experiment.
Thanks for the fantastic videos, enjoyed seeing this re-creation after I spend my undergraduate as an architecture student there. Excited for the next videos to come cheers!...
Thanks for the amazing tour and all of the work entailed in building the model. I live directly north of the campus on the other side of the Ike. The historical photos you utilized provided a sense of the monumental transformations that have occurred, and continue to take place, in and around this neighborhood.
I'm so grateful you posted the link for this project. I'm working on a game with a lot of impossibly large brutalist inspired areas and I'll definitely be pulling some designs from this, especially because I can move around and inspect it from every angle. Thank you so much!
Very interesting reconstruction. I do not live in Chicago so was not aware of the demolition of the iconic pedestrian highways until they were already gone, making your post a welcome trip down memory lane. I went to school at the old medical center campus (UIMC), but took a couple of courses at the UICC (circle) campus. I remember the east campus as being austere and unwelcoming. It reminded me of Stalinist monumental architecture, or perhaps what living in a lunar colony might be like. Also, finding classrooms in the "Field Theory" buildings was totally disorienting for students. All that being said, the educational quality of the courses was fine!
Love this channel, hadn't heard of the walkways, but as a piece of architecture they look amazing!
Thanks for the content! You create some great Arch content to satisfy that design itch on the weekends, and make Chicago sound like such a great place to live.
Just looking at the original walkway system, my first reaction is "Ooh not in Chicago." Chicago has brutal winters. I would not want to walk on them when icy and the wind is strong. And why would you want to climb up stairs, especially in winter, under those condition when you could just enter at ground level? But the underground pedways are a great idea!
The campus for SUNY Albany has some of the same issues. Although it does have some roofed sections most of it is pretty open, and the giant fountain at it's center is turned off all winter, meaning most of the time the students are on campus it's off. The students end up cutting through steam tunnels with asbestos.
Get up in that wind, feel alive!
From what I've read of modernism so far it is because their is a rejection of regionalism a quest to find an underlying universal style. In a quest to find Zeitgeist artists threw themselves at finding authentic style in the face of new production methods. The problem being that things that work in a Mediterranean climate may not work in colder climates, and pointing that out won't be good for a career at the time
@@georgejamesducas9602 there are actually 2 the Chicago style and the prairie style. Yes, eclecticism where you raid history for all and take what you want was also popular but there was still regionalism in the US. I'm sure that had the US ignored the international modernist movement these regional styles and others would become more wide spread.
Modernist architecture was supposed to be an architecture that would be applicable to all people in the machine age. This means you will ignore local weather in your design.
In this instance a bad design that needed a lot more maintenance then the people you denigrate as cheapskates were really willing to spend. Perhaps it was only obvious in hindsight that owners always skimp on the maintenance but if your plan is predicated on things going well then it is a bad plan. A person who experienced a similar set of walk ways said they were icy unpleasant to use in winter. If the architect had look around and seen and seen that there aren't a lot of external uncovered stairs near the great lakes and why that's was it might not have been built.
Then there is the problem of unprotected steel reinforced concrete. Concrete has a ph of 13 and rain has a ph of 5.5 or less. This will lead to neutralizing the concrete ph. Now for ancient buildings like the Romans built it's not much of a problem because it's still under compression, but steel reinforced concrete has tension for all those flat surfaces. To stop the steel from rusting you need a ph greater then 10. Now you could clad the material to prevent water penetration but that doesn't fit in style. You could only build with style in places where there isn't much rain but that means that the style is regional and that is contraindicated by the style. Or you can do a crap ton of maintenance which is expensive and time consuming and the architect should know not to do it. Or perhaps the architect didn't know this would be a problem because they didn't understand the material they were building with which makes it a very bad design because they didn't know what they were doing.
@@diegomontoya8095
Nice to feel alive until you slip and fall on ice. Not all students are as perfectly athletic as you purport to be. Some even have handicaps, perish the thought!
I had a long connection to this site. My grandfather had been the director of Hull House from 1942 to 1962. So I grew up visiting the site when it was still Hull House. I then attended UIC from 1970 to 1973 and was there when the walkways were in full bloom. I enjoyed them in two ways. The upper walkway was generally very uncrowded and a good way to move quickly from place to place, and in hot weather the walkways provided shade if you wanted to walk below, or protection from the rain if it was raining. All in all a great experience.
Thank you for sharing this! Last time I went to Chicago I visited the UIC to know it in real life and it was amazing! I've been obsessed with the work of Walter and SOM since I was at architecture school. Greetings from Mexico (:
I was a student of UIC for the y-arch program in 2013. And loved to see this video. Used to walk from my housing to the architecture building everyday and wonder how it was to walk as intended by the architect!
I graduated from UIC and knew about the walkway through old images but, the model really helped put it in perspective. Thanks for sharing. Really miss Chicago and the architecture now that I have moved to California.
Love your videos. Would love to see more Chicago architecture videos!
I love and appreciate your attitude toward architecture that is so clear here. I only discovered your channel tonight, and have already subscribed. You have so many interesting videos, that I’m quite sure that I’ll spend the night holding my IPad Pro in my arms until I either fall asleep or my cat gets too envious and I have to watch from a few feet until she falls asleep and I can safely move her to my knees…
I really have devoured all of your videos. To see that the channel being as young ss it is, youre doing a fantastic job. I am eager to see what youll put out next. I really enjoy these videos you have detailing a certain structure and its designs. Theyre super fun to watch!
This is a fascinating channel - I've been playing around with 3D programmes for years with a vague idea of recreating demolished brutalist structures. Would love to see one on The Tricorn Centre (Portsmouth, England). I first became aware of it when I was a kid and we drove past it as it was being pulled down.
Well snap! I was literally thinking about modeling this last week for my channel. This is awesome man! Great work!
Greetings from Champaign! :D
Thank you for the presentation!
We used to skate there in the mid to late 80's, it was epic. Thank you for taking the time to put this together.
I recalled visiting this site in the early 70s. Humanly speaking, the promenade was way way too long, the top was too empty, and below was too scary. If my memory serves me well, you're right about too many columns. Some post mortem suggestions: slab glass or glass blocks for opening light on the pathway, narrow the path widths down quite a bit, and give a damn roof over Chicago's bitter freeze & fry seasons. Forget the heaters!
I've never seen these types of walkways or even staircases work in similar academic settings. Interacting with large concrete structures as terrible as a pedestrian. It reflects the worst of the weather, if it's hot it's blistering, if it's cold it's extra frigid. Never once have I thought to myself "You know, I wish I was surrounded by more bunker-esque concrete right now"
Very cool video, sent to my UIC friends
I'd love to see you do this kind of review for one of Louis Sullivan's lost works. As far as Brutalism goes, I find it interesting in the abstract. But in practice it comes off as very alienating and unfriendly. For campus public space a grassy mall with trees and flowers is a much more pleasant space to hang out that acres of concrete baking in the sun.
Thank you for this post. That’s my school and I was a UIC student when the walkways were there and I saw them taken down.
Thank you for the great video, I graduated from UIC School of Architecture in 1994. Now living in Singapore. I loved the elevated walkway. I think is super brutal, super cool. I used to roller blade there on weekend when the campus is empty. Gosh! Sad is demolished.
I went to school there 67/68. It was cold and unfriendly. Never had a feeling of warmth. Lecture halls were so big they needed tv around the hall to see and hear the professor. Glad to hear it’s gone.
These videos you are putting out are just so interesting! Intriguing, informative and educative. You appear to be a born educator. Thank you for all your effort 🙏
Wow, thank you!
Love your vids Stewart! Thx!
All that white concrete on the path, sunglasses are mandatory!! 😎Underneath, all those columns must have been like visiting the Festival Temple of Tuthmosis III at Karnak in Egypt!! 🌴🐪🇪🇬
I worked under the Walter Netsch / Craig Hartman studio in 1980 - 1983 SOM Chicago. Walter still kept an eye on projects during this transitional time being semi retired. His field theory was carried on and seen experimented in projects during this time. Most notable is the award winning Univ. Miami Ohio Art Museum. Other applications include the Art Institute of Chicago east side addition, Texas Christian Univ. Mary Coutts Library addition, Ft Wayne Art Museum addition and two large university campus Master Plans at Tizi Izu University and Blida University, both in Algeria. He won the Aga Khan award for his excellence in the use of Field Theory for the layout of the Tizi Izu University Master Plan and its Architecture. He was quite the visionary like no other principal at SOM and one who deserved more respect than he received.
Excellent video! Of course, your recreation couldn't capture the drippy grayness of walking under that walkway. I attended UIC from 1979 - 1983. While I appreciated the forum at the center, the rest of it was dreary, even in the summer. Rarely did I walk on the upper level due to Chicago's weather being what it is - too cold, too hot, too wet, etc. Not to mention getting access to it was limited due to many of the stairs being unsafe crumbling messes. On my next visit 'home' I really need to go there and see what it is like these days.
Extremely interesting video! I can imagine the amount of time tracing old plans, building it in rhino and rendering in enscape, content like this should not be free! If only my professor in architecture school is as energetic and interesting as you! Keep on the good work! -An MArch grad in Hong Kong
nice! reminds me of embarcadero center in SF (except embarcadero center is linear and less 'open'). really enjoyed the 3d walkthrough, that's something i kind of wish more architecture channels did more of.
Your 3d walkthrough and analysis bring such clearer comprehension of what those spaces were like compared to a set a historical pictures. One of your videos has even been referenced in our provincial Architecture Association here in Québec. Thank you very much for the generous content! I'm glad I subscribed to your channel :)
That's great! Thanks!
I second the kudos. Your rendering is so painstaking and accurate that merely to view it brought much of the experience of studying there back to me vividly.
Your content and insights make for compelling viewing, Stewart, particularly this episode. Netsch’s designs age particularly ungracefully, marking a nadir for 20th Century American architecture.
Just stumbled across your channel:)) Your content is awesome. This site looks unreal like the final stage in a RPG.
Honestly this one the best break down of architecture as a channel, I love what you do.. infact one of my biggest fears in life is you making your content a paid service 😂😂😂.. love from Nigeria 💙
I got to spend some of my summers at UIC’s campus for my internships and also had many friends who attended during 2013-2017. I attended UIUC for undergrad so I never knew about the walkways until this video! My favorite building on campus was the BSB building near Harrison and Morgan. Getting to walk all the way upstairs you get to see some wonderful skyline views of the West Loop
Thanks! I attended UIC and at the time I had no idea this elevated element existed. I noticed something was off when looking at the buildings, but I never looked into it. About two months ago I started researching the Greek Delta and its destruction to build UIC and some of the history and came across old images of UIC and the university being built when I first saw what once was at UIC. It connected all the dots, and now just after this ... I find your video! Very cool timing. Thanks!
Glad you enjoyed it
Very fascinating. I have very minimal knowledge of architecture but enjoy history. Stewart explains the information in an engaging, concise, and simple manner that is easy to follow. Thank you for sharing this info!
Thank you! Im glad you’re enjoying the videos.
Wow! Nice modelling mr. Hicks... urban campus development... hope you feature more such developments, SOM or not. I have interest in chicago architecture way back in a university in manila philippines in the 90's, but, your take on it, very objective, straight to the point and aesthetically perceptive in time-spirit. Thank you. Very nice indeed.
I graduated in with a degree in Industrial Design in 1981 and experienced the elevated spaces. Brutalist is the word, also the confusing rotated squares of the art and architecture building was in stark contrast to my initial ID home, Crown Hall at IIT. The scale of the steel chains on the causeways was spectacular and totally inappropriate. A flawed attempt at an Architectural Ideal.
I'd love to see a video on what additions they added that where great and not so great. Like a video on the campus changes post walkway demolition. I think that would be a great follow up to this video. Loved this one btw.
Awesome video Stewart, thankyou! 😊
Glad you liked it!
My youngest daughter is thinking about attending UIC for civil engineering and we were just on campus a couple of weeks ago, putting this video into perspective. Walking along the open sidewalks where these walkways used to stand makes you think how it used to be.
I am a 2021 alumni of UIC. Always wondered how was the elevated campus like. Great video. Kudos professor!
I went to UIC from 1980-84 and experienced the walkways. This video does an excellent job of showing what it was like. As they mentioned if you used the walkways, and plenty of students did, you entered on the second floor which made most building have two main entrances. It was an efficient ways to relieve congestion when you were trying to get from one class to another. But overall it was harsh. I never saw a lot of people gathering anywhere on the upper levers, even the forum was not hugely used. Of course the weather didn’t help and in the winter the snow would melt through the walkways to the areas below causing that area to be damp even when it was not snowing.
Hey! Im probably going to UIC next year. Super excited to experience this beautiful school and city soon :)
I’ve been hoping you’d tackle the UIC campus! Something you don’t really go into here is how removing the walkways changed how people interacted with the buildings on campus. For instance the Behavioral Science building, where my office is, has most of its classrooms and the entry to lecture halls on the second floor. Entering from where the walkway would have allowed entry there’s an open central space with classrooms spinning off it and a really geometrically interesting stair case descending to the offices on the first floor. But entering from the current first floor entrance (tucked under an exterior stair) students must navigate narrow twisting hallways and walk around from the backside of that staircase to find their way up to the classrooms.
I’d be very interested to hear your ideas as an architect about how removing the walkways changed how people interact with the buildings, and maybe ways the building programs could be updated to address some of the challenges this created.
Yeah, there's a lot of videos to be made for sure. It's definitely a challenge. I'll try to see how I could work something into another video at some point. I also did a walkthrough of the campus as part of Docomomo which might be available somewhere online. We go into it there.
New subscriber here, thank you for sharing this incredible model it really feels like being there.
just graduated from UIC last year w/ a BA in Civil Engineering... awesome video!!
I grew up in the neighborhood when this was being built and remember it when it was brand new. So odd to think it is already oldm gone and only remembered in photos now
Thank you, for this video about the architecture of my initial alma mater university, 1977.
Superb analysis..👍 thanks..
I attended under graduate architecture school here from ‘93-‘98. The year after the walkways we’re torn down. Some still remained for a time though (like outside AA). The forum was gone by my first day of classes. We also did some analysis of the campus design in my 3rd year of studio. I have a lot of fond memories of this campus despite what many have said. Yes, it was cold and vast, but it’s Chicago. I think there are definitely some experiments that both failed and succeeded, sometimes at the same time. As an architecture student though, I really loved the playfulness with geometry. You mentioned the twisted columns that are basically the shape of the “Freedom Tower” in Manhattan. The weird narrow windows that they told us was some kind of “riot proof” attempted solution of the architects.
But most of alI love the boldness of the field theory buildings and their playfulness. Students complained about Them being mazes, especially BSB (fair enough). And we all know the rotated spiral that AA is. I still feel it’s a shame that building was never complete (the dorms now prevent some of that from happening now). I also love how the students used the incomplete spaces. The stairways that end in a CMU wall, the main west staircase that allows views to spaces that you don’t quite know how to get to. On critique days we used to take breaks from crits by hanging out in that triangular emergency stair. It was a great building to learn about form space and order. I’m happy to see the sensitive design of windows for the building after I graduated. It did need windows.
From a campus side, it did feel a bit sterile, but despite the concrete jungle, they do manage to add some granite accents to warm it up a little. I actually liked the grandeur and scale of the LCs, CCC and the SEL. I felt like I was in a place of great importance. In general the campus buildings did feel like they had a proper sense of scale and proportion. Aesthetics are too subjective but I can see all the arguments against them.
You should check out the Skyways in Minneapolis. It took this concept in another direction where there are heated walkways between buildings which is a Godsend in winter and great if you need to get to point B from point A without actually going outside. Interesting video, well researched and presented. Kudos!
I attended UIC Circle Campus in the early 80s, originally for architecture. I remember how otherworldly the campus seemed, and while it didn't quite reach the sculptural status of the Empire State Plaza in Albany, NY, it sure seemed like the perfect environment to study architecture in. I didn't know the walkways have been demolished, and while Stewart says in this video that there were too many columns, when you were there, it was very much a forest, albeit a very ordered one - a concrete Tuileries, if you will. I'm glad I was able to attend classes there in its heyday, it really was an amazing place.
I worked in the Loop 1977-1981 and took a couple of evening classes at UIC. The winter was pretty rough for walking from the EL stop onto the campus. I kind of wonder how much BRUTALISM impacts learning in younger minds. For me it was enjoyable one evening a week for a year or so.
I attended school there in '91 and '92. The walkways gave the campus a real dystopian feel. What I remember most is it wasn't maintained very well. When it rained or snowed you would be forced under the walkway and as it rained or the snow melted every 20 or 40 feet there would be a stream of water pouring through. You could walk on top, but there was usually a single path of trampled snow that everyone followed. The other thing I remember was if you took the walkway from building A to building B the door on building B might be locked and you would have to track back to find stairs to the ground level. All that being said, by the end of my time there I actually started to like it and am feeling a little nostalgic as think about it now. Although the water wasn't making the the sound of a bubbling brook, it was "natural" and it did sort of drown out the sound of the expressway.
Your mustache is superb. This is also a really great video!
Interesting video. Thank you for imparting the information. The model is great and it would be fascinating to see it as a fully actualized environment in the Unreal Engine.
Thanks Stewart for all of your terrific videos. I love the professionalism and choice of topics. I did have to smile, though, when your title card came up and it said "Exploring Chicago's Demolished Pedestrian HIGWAY." Oh well, it's not that I haven't made my own funny mistakes in my videos! :)
Oh no!!!!
I lived in Chicago for a while. I cannot imagine the joy of those long elevated walks on cold and windy Chicago days. And there are way too many of those, not to mention the snow & ice :-)
Great work Stew!
THANK YOU VERY INTERESTING !
This reminds me of Constitution Plaza in Hartford, CT where a similar 1960's urban development project was done with raised plazas and footbridges. It is another fine example of the, thanfully, left behind 1960's urban renewal concept. Peace
It might have been true for the Unites States, a campus with this features had never been attempted before. But there is an earlier, successful, and extremely beautiful, campus at a huge scale, built in the 50's in Caracas, Venezuela. The campus for the Central University of Venezuela in Caracas, by Carlos Raúl Villanueva.
What happened to it?
A lot less snow and ice in Caracas though....😎
@@Charlz1980tv certainly!
I love your videos!
Love this!!
southside stewie back at it again. the pinnacle of midwestern excellency. fantastic content.
Don't know if you still work at UIC but lots of work has been done on the "quad" I think it will be a nice gathering place again. It needed an update. Great video, thanks for the history.
I attended UIC from 1985 to 1991. I enjoyed getting around on the walkway when the weather was decent. And in the rain I'd stay underneath, though things were far from dry. It was already falling into disrepair while I was there, but it's sad that it's gone.
Great video mate!!
Glad you enjoyed it
missing alot of railing.
good job, never heard of this before.
good ol chicago to run something into the ground but it looks high maintenance
This is such a daring and beautiful concept for an urban university. Took me a few years but totally love this place.
The model needs the sound of creaking chains (used as guardrails) and the drops of falling water below. A failure, but a big try.
I received by BA and MArch from UIC in the 80’s and was fortunate enough to have lunch with h Walter Netsch at his home once. As an architecture student we never understand how the Art and Architecture building was not the first one completed and ultimately never finished. We did love how the behavioral science kids seemed to get lost in the field theory maze of their building.
On a sunny day the walkways were nice but in the rain and winter, forget it. Always thought the slabs of granite were too costly for this purpose and too many joints to be able to realistically maintain.
The field theory is great in concept but seemingly very difficult to translate into certain structures. Thanks for the videos and I bet your knowledge is a great benefit to the students. I would have loved to have you as one of my instructors. Although I must say that Stanley was one of a kind.
Fascinating! Thank you for sharing.
So this is the Little Island the arch people have been raving about.
P.S. Love your content and I pray for a Discord server!
ive seen many of your videos n now i wanna see your buildings!
Having experienced this concrete debacle in the early 90s, it was a relief for everyone there, students and faculty alike, to be rid of the brutal architecture. No protection from the elements at the top, and dark, dank, and wind tunneled cavern-like below. The architect's design follies (i.e. ill-conceived elevated walkway, upside down user-unfriendly UH, prison-like BSB, etc) should never have been approved since it was neither human-centric or inspiring for a place of learning. Rather than being bold, it was just cold; instead of iconic, it was unremarkable.
I went to UIC in the 80s, and I always took the elevated walkway from the Halsted El stop. I liked it.
I studied Engineering there from 89 to 95, navigated those upper walkways daily through 4 seasons. It was beautiful and eminently useful, especially the walkways crossing the adjacent streets.
They started demolition before I graduated, so I was able to grab a couple of granite fragments as keepsakes.
Summer days saw students gathering around the central Forum, with girls often sunbathing most distractingly.
I do so miss that stone colossus, nothing like it before or since.
Finally a positive comment! It was awesome, right?