University Of Illinois At Chicago Daley Library IDEA Commons

University Of Illinois At Chicago Daley Library IDEA Commons
© Christopher Barrett

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO DALEY LIBRARY IDEA COMMONS

Woodhouse Tinucci Architects

ARCHITECTS
Woodhouse Tinucci Architects

MANUFACTURERS
Cascade Architectural

PHOTOGRAPHS
Christopher Barrett, Andy Tinucci

YEAR
2011

LOCATION
Chicago, United States

CATEGORY
University

The new Commons is a 15,500sf renovation that creates a vibrant gateway, connecting campus and Library while emphasizing its importance as the University's 24/7 heart.

University Of Illinois At Chicago Daley Library IDEA Commons
© Christopher Barrett
University Of Illinois At Chicago Daley Library IDEA Commons
© Christopher Barrett

It provides an array of flexibly interconnected learning/living environments---single-user tables, group workstations, deep lounge chairs, booths with banquettes, high counters with stools, soft sofa modules---spread through a variety of lounges, study areas, “smart” classrooms and seminar spaces, a cafe, and spaces for social interaction and performances.

All are saturated with the latest digital technologies and centered around the support desk and a printing center. From outside, students enter between two prisms of steel grating, brightly lit at night.

University Of Illinois At Chicago Daley Library IDEA Commons
© Christopher Barrett
University Of Illinois At Chicago Daley Library IDEA Commons
© Andy Tinucci

From inside, entry is from the Library's main lobby through a brilliant yellow portal in an aluminum-clad wall (printed with students' silhouettes composed of ideograms representing UIC's 72 fields of study).

Activities are contained in low-slung volumes (clad with whiteboard panels and translucently filmed glass, divided by curtains of steel mesh, and surrounded by the building's 16ft curtainwall to connect to the landscaped campus outdoors.

University Of Illinois At Chicago Daley Library IDEA Commons
© Christopher Barrett
University Of Illinois At Chicago Daley Library IDEA Commons
© Christopher Barrett

Above, new lighting, ductwork and aluminum panels showcase (and humanize) the bravura Piranesi-like play of concrete structure of the original building's classic Brutalist design (Walter Netsch, SOM, 1965).


University Of Illinois At Chicago Daley Library IDEA Commons
© Christopher Barrett
University Of Illinois At Chicago Daley Library IDEA Commons
© Christopher Barrett


University Of Illinois At Chicago Daley Library IDEA Commons
© Christopher Barrett
University Of Illinois At Chicago Daley Library IDEA Commons
© Christopher Barrett
University Of Illinois At Chicago Daley Library IDEA Commons
© Andy Tinucci


University Of Illinois At Chicago Daley Library IDEA Commons
Diagram
University Of Illinois At Chicago Daley Library IDEA Commons
Floor Plan