I would like to discuss something that we all saw, and occupied, today at the PUC campus: the metro stop. I’ve included pictures, but there are a few of these large, raised tunnel structures along the green line that we took to get to PUC. As soon as I saw these, I was reminded of a very similar metro stop, specifically the L stop on Mies’ IIT campus in Chicago, IL. The stop on PUCs campus has a lot of framework on the end of it currently; however, the others (visible from the top of the Innovation Center) did not have these so try to ignore that, focusing more on the actual structure. The PUC stop has lots of visible ventilation, and less prominent ridges on the exterior. The IIT one has no visible ventilation (cold Chicago Winters) and large ridges on the sides (reference to Mies’ tendency to use external structural beams, or even add unnecessary ones?). Additionally, if we look at how they effect the surroundings, while the PUC one feels very alone and additive, the IIT one effects the building it crosses over, ‘bending’ it to allow it to pass. Unlike IIT, the PUC campus is a collection of works by many
PUC campus – green line metro stop
L stop IIT campus