Suliaman Bin Ahmed
Crown Hall 
Crown Hall is one of 20 buildings designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe for the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) in Chicago. The building was built between the period of 1950-1956. This is the center piece of a master plan for the campus founded in 1940 that covers approximately 50 hectares. Crown Hall is an architecturally significant building because Mies van der Rohe refined the basic steel and glass construction style, beautifully capturing simplicity and openness. Crown Hall, Mies considered the building to be the best embodiment of that maxim. Mies once described his creation as being "almost nothing." With World War II and the Great Depression leaving a large break in construction, Mies reconstructed curriculum to appreciate minimalism and to focus on using only what was necessary; an approach not yet favorable in most architecture schools of the time.  
The building is configured as a self-contained in a rectangular shape on two levels. Is a free volume with its four walls of glass, surrounded by a large green area, with large trees, mainly in the south facade. The glazing on all sides that allows the faculty do not give back the rest of the buildings, while respecting the context. It is characterized by an industrial aesthetic of simplicity, clearly stated in their steel frames. The building is divided into two levels: the main floor, shaped like a large space and a semi-buried where they are located the offices, meeting rooms and services. The main floor, which occupies 50% of the building, comprising a single glass-enclosed space devoted to the study of architecture. Mies called it a “universal space” to be totally flexible in its use. The divisions that have very few moving parts, made with lightweight panels that allow you to place the space as required.  
The vegetation surrounding the building calm working environment helps regulate the sunlight on the glass facade and makes the view much more pleasant for users inside the building. The building itself is designed for the benefit of users and not only as an aesthetic element as we can think of many instances if you have not studied the work. The facades of glass create an open environment, giving the feeling of working outdoors in a park, with the view to the skyscrapers of Chicago and vegetation. The cover 36 x 67 meters is based on a series of exterior columns of steel that are placed tangent to the wall and are related through jácenas song visible on the steel deck. This technique allowed to cover important Mies lights without intermediate support and maintain a standard thickness forged. The plant is semi-supported in a frame of columns 6 x 9 meters. The main materials are steel, reinforced concrete and glass 
  

REFERENCES  
Lynn Becker (2017). The Blog : Mies van der Rohe’s Crown Hall Gets an Interior Redesign.  
Adelyn Perez (2010). AD Classics: IIT Master Plan and Buildings / Mies van der Rohe. 

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