Douglas Hall, University building in West Loop, Chicago, US
Douglas Hall features three lecture halls arranged around a central courtyard, with custom seating walls and native plant landscaping at 705 South Morgan Street.
The building continues the legacy of the original Douglas Hall from 1856, which was part of the Old University of Chicago established through Stephen Douglas's land donation.
The building design incorporates outdoor learning spaces and social interaction areas, reflecting modern approaches to university education and student engagement.
Students access specialized lecture halls, collaboration spaces, and outdoor study areas through carefully planned circulation paths connecting different sections of the building.
The building includes permeable pavement systems and native plant selections that reduce water consumption while supporting local plant species in an urban setting.
Location: Chicago
GPS coordinates: 41.87283,-87.64908
Latest update: March 3, 2025 14:52
Brutalist architecture emerged in the decades following World War II, producing buildings that challenged conventional design through their honest expression of materials and function. From Le Corbusier's Unité d'Habitation in Marseille to Louis Kahn's National Assembly in Dhaka, these structures define a global movement that prioritized raw concrete, bold geometric forms and exposed construction elements. The style reached across continents, shaping university libraries in Chicago, government buildings in Boston and Chandigarh, residential towers in London, and cultural centers in São Paulo. Each building reflects the architectural philosophy of its time, when architects sought to create functional spaces through direct expression of structure and material. This collection documents examples from Europe, Asia, North and South America, representing the full range of building types that defined the movement. You'll find administrative complexes that house parliaments and municipal offices, educational facilities serving major universities, residential towers providing urban housing, and cultural institutions including museums and theaters. The structures share common characteristics—concrete left exposed to show its texture and formwork patterns, geometric compositions that emphasize mass and volume, and architectural elements that reveal rather than conceal how buildings stand and function. These sites offer insight into a period when architects reimagined how modern cities could be built and how public spaces could serve their communities.
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