AIA New York Chapter

Center for Architecture

Crown Hall – A Study in a Building’s Sustainable Evolution

Thursday, 04/26/2007, 6:00–8:00pm
Mies van der Rohe's SR Crown Hall, home to the Architecture School at Illinois Institute of Technology, is one of the purest expressions of the late Modern Movement and a cherished icon of 20th-century architecture. Though beloved for its clear architectural expression it has nonetheless been criticized for its poor environmental performance in terms of occupant comfort and energy performance, particularly as it is located in a dense urban setting. An explicit goal for building's renovation therefore, was to explore means of improving the performance of the building without compromising its design. Atelier Ten and Transsolar, two European environmental consulting firms, collaborating with the design team of Krueck+Sexton and McClier, examined previous renovations and concluded that a lack of understanding of the environmental implications of certain structural and mechanical changes fundamentally diminished building performance.

The presentation will focus on the consulting team's distinctive approach to evaluating both architectural and mechanical systems and to identifying the individual measures for improving Crown Hall. In particular, the presentation will illustrate an innovative means of renovating and retrofitting modernist buildings without compromising architectural expression - a specific concern in the city of Chicago, which is known for its number of notable mid-century masterpieces.

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