IIT Architecture Chicago

Illinois Tech is proud to take part in Open House Chicago 2025, celebrating 15 years of architecture, culture, and community. Visitors are invited to experience S. R. Crown Hall, designed by Mies van der Rohe and widely regarded as one of the most influential buildings of the 20th century. On Sunday, October 19, a walking tour will guide guests from Crown Hall to the Kaplan Institute, led by Mies van der Rohe Society Director Cynthia Vranas Olsen, Ph.D., and Dean Reed Kroloff. Chicago Architecture Center https://lnkd.in/g8GYTnCq

Converge Architecture, co-founded by Illinois Tech College of Architecture Adjunct Professor Annabell Ren (B.ARCH. ’14), is celebrating its first year with two major recognitions from AIA Chicago. Ren’s African Heritage Hut in Chicago’s North Lawndale neighborhood is a finalist for the Roberta Feldman Architecture for Social Justice Award, honoring design guided by the belief that access to high-quality architecture is a human right. Congratulations to Annabell and her team at Converge Architecture on this inspiring achievement. https://lnkd.in/gDU7Q9My

Illinois Tech College of Architecture welcomes Peruvian architect Kevin Malca as the 2025 Jeanne and John Rowe Fellow. His research investigates how indigenous practices—such as the water-harvesting “qochas” of Peru’s Quispillacta community—can shape ecological and sustainable approaches to contemporary architecture. Through teaching and a funded research project, Malca will examine the ways ancestral knowledge informs modern design, offering new frameworks for thinking about architecture as an interconnected cultural, ecological, and social system. https://lnkd.in/gWNBWuKC

Illinois Tech’s College of Architecture is proud to share that the centerpiece project of last spring’s Open House—“Change in Plot”—has been recognized as a finalist in the AIA Chicago 2025 Design Excellence Awards. Led by Associate Teaching Professor Jennifer Park, along with 10 students, the project featured more than 60 parametrically generated forms, crafted with renewable materials and natural dyes, offering a striking contrast to the Modernist design of S. R. Crown Hall. We congratulate our students and faculty on this achievement and look forward to celebrating at Designight 2025 at Millennium Park’s Harris Theater. https://lnkd.in/gtykEKsJ

Illinois Tech Associate Teaching Professor Alphonso Peluso has published his second eBook in the Parametric Modeling with Grasshopper 3D series. 📘 Book 1: Intro to Parametric Modeling Guides readers through foundational workflows with architectural and structural case studies, including folded plate tessellations, shells, grids, and tall buildings—plus tools such as Kangaroo 2 and Weaverbird. 📗 Book 2: Advanced Parametric Modeling Pushes beyond the basics into experimental, performance-driven strategies using Grasshopper, Chromodoris, and Biomorpher to explore data-informed design, optimization, and real-time simulations. Together, the series empowers students and practitioners to move from precision fundamentals to adaptive, scalable digital prototypes—a pathway to innovation in design and fabrication. https://lnkd.in/gmEg_Bvh

For more than two decades, Abigail Clary (M.ARCH. ’97) has been redefining health care design. As the executive director of health for all at CannonDesign, she has led transformative projects such as the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab and is currently spearheading the design of the University of Chicago’s new cancer hospital in Hyde Park. Her work focuses on improving not just efficiency, but also dignity, inclusivity, and compassion. Clary’s commitment to impact stems from deeply personal experience. After witnessing how the health care system failed her father, she has made it her mission to transform spaces of treatment into spaces of humanity—where patients, families, and staff alike can find support, comfort, and dignity. https://lnkd.in/gexn4Put

Meet Alex, a first-generation college student studying architecture whose journey at Illinois Tech has opened doors to possibilities she never imagined. Inspired by her family, fueled by creativity, and driven by curiosity, Alex has transformed ideas into designs and designs into reality. Along the way, she co-founded a student-led architecture podcast, connecting with architects across Chicago to explore their stories and share new perspectives. Reflecting on her path, Alex shares: “I don’t think my high school self would believe that this is my life right now." https://lnkd.in/ggEv-s_Q

Welcome back to S. R. Crown Hall for a new semester of design and discovery.

A look back at the construction of S. R. Crown Hall (1955–1956), the architectural masterpiece by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe that continues to shape global conversations around design and space. Today, Crown Hall is not only home to Illinois Tech’s College of Architecture but also a living classroom for architectural innovation.

Illinois Tech’s College of Architecture invites you to the opening reception of 1x1 Chicago—Celebrating Women in Architecture, on Wednesday, August 7 at 6 p.m. at S. R. Crown Hall. This public and free exhibition highlights the achievements of pioneering Illinois Tech alumnae and Chicago-based women architects—presented in response to the International Archive of Women in Architecture’s global 1x1 initiative. Enjoy opening remarks by Paola Zellner, IAWA director, and curatorial insights by Kristin Jones, exhibition curator and co-organizer. We welcome the design community and beyond to join this celebration of vision, impact, and innovation.