University Hall
"Big Shoulders" Design
Borrowing from Carl Sandburg’s evocation of Chicago as the “City of the Big Shoulders,” Walter Netsch designed “big shoulders” into his most prominent campus structure. Viewed from the east and west sides, University Hall expands as it rises, measuring 150 feet wide up to floor eight, 160 feet wide from floors 9 to 16, and 170 feet wide from floors 17 to 28. A series of cantilevers makes this unusual design possible. Seen from the north and south ends, the building width remains constant. Enormous columns at ground level support the weight of University Hall.The Rebecca Port Center
The Rebecca Port Faculty-Student Center occupies the first and second floors of University Hall’s southwest corner. A generous gift from campus benefactor Sid Port funded the creation of Port Center which opened in Spring 2004.
The original walkways that connected University Hall to other campus buildings passed through the second floor area, where a huge granite marker that bears the name University Hall has been relocated from the plaza west of the building. A seating area occupies the stub of a walkway that once carried pedestrians down to ground level via a pair of circular ramps mimicking the nearby expressway interchange. This is the last remaining portion of the campus’s walkways.
The principal points of entry from the walkways were at the second floor level in all the Netsch buildings. Even today, these areas are generally more finished and more attractive than the floor below.
