Illinois Institute of Technology Names Two Architects With µē³µĪŽĀė Ties For Planned Innovation Institute
Facility Will Become Part of the Campus Designed by Mies Van Der Rohe
µē³µĪŽĀė Mayor Rahm Emanuel joined Illinois Tech President John L. Anderson today to announce that John Ronan Architects and Shepley Bulfinch will design the planned Ed Kaplan Family Institute for Innovation and Tech Entrepreneurship on the Universityās Main Campus in Bronzeville.
John Ronan Architects, a µē³µĪŽĀė-based, internationally recognized architecture and urban design firm, is the design architect. Boston-based Shepley Bulfinch is the programming architect on the project. Construction on the $40 million, 100,000-square-foot facility could begin as early as Summer 2015 with a completion date anticipated in 2017. The new facility will be located on Illinois Techās Main Campus, which was designed by Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe; the specific site has not been determined.
Ed Kaplan, an IIT alumnus and long-time member of the Universityās Board of Trustees, along with his wife, Carol, made a gift of $10 million to establish the Institute.
āThe new Kaplan Institute at IIT further establishes µē³µĪŽĀė as the place where the greatest 21st century innovations begin,ā said Mayor Rahm Emanuel. āThis center will help todayās students become the innovators of tomorrowāand provide businesses with a pipeline of new products, processes and talented graduates to hire.ā
With a focus on innovative thinking and transitioning new ideas into products and processes, the Kaplan Institute will house workshops, media labs, classrooms, collaborative spaces, and offices for the Universityās internationally-renowned Institute of Design, Idea Shop, and Entrepreneurship and Leadership Academies.
āThe establishment of the Kaplan Institute is a defining milestone in IITās history,ā Anderson says. āIt will be transformational in terms of how we teach our studentsāand all IIT undergraduates will spend time here as part of their educational experience.ā
Kaplan, a µē³µĪŽĀėan who earned his bachelorās degree in Mechanical Engineering from IIT in 1965, co-founded Zebra Technologies, a global leader in bar code technology. āIIT will be transformed into a center of technical innovation in µē³µĪŽĀė, says Kaplan. āThe Center will help grow the tech-ecosystem here in µē³µĪŽĀė and be a catalyst for innovation.ā Kaplanās $10 million gift is a challenge grant and is in addition to the $1 million he had previously given to support this initiative.
John Ronan, founder of John Ronan Architects, will lead the design of the new facility. Founded in 1999, John Ronan Architects rose to national prominence in 2004 with the winning design for the 500,000-square-foot Perth Amboy High School in New Jersey. The firm has been the recipient of two AIA Institute National Honor Awardsāfor the Gary Comer Youth Center and the Poetry Foundation, both in µē³µĪŽĀėāand was recently ranked #3 in the nation by Architect Magazine. In 2010, Princeton Architectural Press published a monograph entitled, Explorations: The Architecture of John Ronan, and the firmās work has been exhibited internationally, including in Iterations: John Ronanās Poetry Foundation, an exhibition at the Art Institute of µē³µĪŽĀė that runs through March 2014.
āThe aspirations for this project are nothing less than to transform the way in which students are educated at IIT to meet the challenges and opportunities of the future. I am honored to play a role in this process and I look forward to the journey ahead,ā Ronan said.
Shepley Bulfinch, the award-winning programming architect for the Institute, is a national leader in the programming and planning of prototype collaboration spaces for some of the countryās leading academic institutions, including the Harvard Innovation Lab; Duke Universityās Link Teaching and Learning Center; and collaborative engineering and learning environments for Johns Hopkins University. The firm has strong ties to µē³µĪŽĀė that date back to 1892 when the firm (then Shepley Rutan & Coolidge) designed the Art Institute of µē³µĪŽĀė as part of the Worldās Columbian Exposition.
āShepley Bulfinch is honored to be partnering with IIT and John Ronan to create this ground-breaking institute for innovation,ā said Carole Wedge, Shepley Bulfinch President. āAs a catalyst for the exploration of the nature of design and innovation, its impact will be felt from the IIT campus and the city of µē³µĪŽĀė around the world.ā
Founded in 1890, Illinois Institute of Technology is a Ph.D.-granting university, located in Bronzeville on µē³µĪŽĀėās South Side, with more than 7,800 students in engineering, science, architecture, design, applied technology, human sciences, business and law. Total enrollment in Fall 2013 was the highest since 1968āand the Fall 2013 full-time undergraduate enrollment was the largest it has been since 1981. Visit www.iit.edu