Welcome to the historic Walter Netsch campus at the University of Illinois Chicago!

This virtual walking tour introduces the Brutalist architecture found on the east side of the University of Illinois Chicago campus.

In 1960, Chicago was one of three major American cities that did not have a public four-year university. That changed five years later when Mayor Richard J. Daley opened the University of Illinois Chicago Circle campus to educate the children of working families in the city of Chicago. Located adjacent to a major city expressway interchange popularly known as “the Circle,” the new campus was named the University of Illinois at Chicago Circle (UICC) and welcomed its first students in February 1965.

Internationally acclaimed architect Walter Netsch from the Chicago architectural firm of Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill designed the campus between 1963 and 1968.

Though much has changed in the nearly fifty years since Walter Netsch was engaged as principal architect on the project, his remarkable vision for the campus is still evident in buildings and spaces all over the east side of UIC. Images from then and now accompany our story.