Designed by Pritzker Prize winning architect Rem Koolhaas, Principal, Office for Metropolitan Architecture, Rotterdam. Koolhaas design chosen in 1998 Richard H. Driehaus Foundation International Design Competition. This is Koolhaas’ first completed building in North America.

Two major building components:

	Reinforced concrete-supported acoustical tube, encased in corrugated stainless steel enveloping 530 feet of existing Chicago Transit Authority elevated commuter train track. Tube sits directly above the building’s concrete roof, designed to significantly muffle train noise and vibration.
	110,000-square-foot, one-story Campus Center building, housing IIT Welcome Center, dining facilities, campus radio station, auditorium and meeting rooms, university bookstore, coffee bar, convenience store, post office and student activity offices.

Construction began in July 2000 at a total cost of $48.2 million: $34.6 million for the building and $13.6 million for the tube. The building was funded in part by a $13 million grant from the McCormick Tribune Foundation. Tube construction funded in part by a $9 million grant from the State of Illinois’ ILLINOIS FIRST program.

Campus Center building and roof constructed of poured-in-place concrete, resting on foundations up to 16 inches thick. Total amount of concrete used: 9,200 cubic yards.

Campus Center building is clad in double-paned soundproofing glass. Some window sections include orange honeycomb panelite infill. Total amount of glass used: 8,000 square feet of interior glass and 15,000 square feet of exterior glass

Tube muffles passing commuter train noise from an average 120 decibels to approximately 70-80 decibels outside the building; less than 70 decibels inside the building. Total amount of stainless steel used to cover tube: 4,800 square feet.

Interior sections of building include unique graphic components made up of small, custom-designed icons by New York graphic design firm 2x4, including a towering 25-foot-high front-door portrait of renowned architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, who served as Dean of the College of Architecture and designed the original IIT Main Campus Master Plan.

The new Campus Center sits between 32nd and 33rd Streets, just east of State Street and the historic Mies van der Rohe Campus, unifying the residential (east) side of the Main Campus with the educational (west) side of the Main Campus and integrating key student services and facilities in one building.