Campus Beginnings

The story of the Chicago campus of the University of Illinois begins on Navy Pier at the end of World War II. With the GI Bill offering educational opportunities to large numbers of returning veterans, the university recognized the need for educating students in Chicago as well as Urbana-Champaign.

In 1946, a two-year undergraduate program opened on Chicago’s Navy Pier. Students could spend two years taking classes at the Pier, but to complete their degrees they had to transfer downstate. Because many parents could not afford to send their children away to school, they lobbied for an affordable public university in Chicago.

Site Selection

Planning for a Chicago campus began in the mid-1950s when a number of different sites, both suburban and urban, were considered. The university chose internationally acclaimed architect Walter Netsch at the Chicago firm of Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill to create schemes for four possible locations: Miller Meadows in North Riverside, Garfield Park, Northerly Island, and the rail yards south of the Loop. Miller Meadows was the university’s first choice, while Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley favored a location in the city.

In 1960, a bond issue passed earmarking $50 million for the construction of the Chicago campus. When the other Chicago sites were not available, Mayor Daley and university trustees announced the selection of our current location, which consisted at the time of 105 acres stretching south and west from the Harrison and Halsted intersection, just a mile to the west of Chicago’s Loop.

"Instant" Campus

The University of Illinois at Chicago Circle was one of several “instant” campuses built in response to major growth in college enrollment following World War II. New York and California also had ambitious schemes and created multiple college campuses around the same time.

Though just a single campus, UICC received a lot of publicity, in large part because of its architectural design which was considered revolutionary at the time. The style, known as Brutalism, took its name from the French béton brut, meaning raw concrete. Internationally in vogue from the 1950s to the 1970s, Brutalist architecture avoided polish and elegance. Practicality, economy, and user-friendliness were the principal aims of the stark, rectilinear style. Readily accessible materials such as concrete, brick, and stone were preferred.

As soon as the first phase of construction was completed, the Netsch design received an award from the local American Institute of Architects (AIA) chapter and a total design award from the National Society of Interior Designers. Architectural Forum magazine covered the developing campus extensively from 1964 through 1970. 

Campus Master Plan

Working under extreme time and budget constraints, Walter Netsch developed a campus design concept based upon the urban setting, the size of the site, and a projected student population of 20,000, which increased to 32,000 in just a few years. The goal was a campus that could work at its initial size while growing quickly to its projected size. In its first five years, the University of Illinois at Chicago Circle was the fastest growing campus in the country, increasing from 5,000 to 17,500 students. 

To enable large numbers of students to navigate the new campus efficiently, Netsch elevated much of the movement and activity to the second story level. The unique “pedestrian expressway system” served as a structuring element for the visual and functional organization of the campus while introducing an interplay of levels. At its center, the raised walkway system converged on an immense second floor expanse of granite and concrete which connected to major buildings to the east and to the west.

At the northern and southern entrances to campus, the walkways extended across major streets, allowing pedestrians to avoid traffic and enter the campus safely.