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OMA worked with Arup structural engineers and acousticians Renz van Luxemburg and Kirkegaard Associates to ensure that the building's functions would not be compromised by the trains.

Portions of the building's roof are a thick concrete slab, while the 530-foot- (162-meter-) long oval tube through which the elevated tracks pass is partly a concrete shell that helps to deaden the sound and vibration. The distinctive tube design, clad in corrugated stainless steel, makes the new campus center a landmark visible from blocks away.

The pylons supporting the tracks, the tube, and the building are all structurally independent, which lessens the impact of train vibration. According to Dawn Schuette of Kirkegaard, "In this way, the direct vibration of the train on the tracks cannot enter the tube or building (except indirectly through the ground), and airborne noise vibration in the tube is not directly connected to the building."

Train noise reportedly drops from 120 decibels under the track to approximately 70-80 decibels immediately outside the building and 70 inside. The sound-deadening effect of the tube has also been welcomed by the occupants of the nearby dormitories and classroom buildings. Mies would probably agree: Less sound is more.

While the campus center's exterior does not attempt to upstage its Miesian neighbors, the interior is a blend of sleek surfaces, layers of transparent and translucent walls, and distant views captured through Koohaas's pedestrian boulevards. Here, Koolhaas pays his respects to Mies, but also creates architecture on his own terms.

Michael J. Crosbie is editor-in-chief of Faith & Form, a senior associate with Steven Winter Associates, and a contributing editor to ArchitectureWeek.

Principal Architect: Rem Koolhaas, OMA
Architect of Record: Holabird & Root
Structural Engineer: Arup
Civil Engineer: Terra Engineering
Construction Manager: Gilbane Building Company
Mechanical, Plumbing & Electrical Engineer: Skidmore Owings & Merrill
Graphic consultant: 2x4
Acoustic engineer: TNO, Kirkegaard Associates Telecommunications Consultant: Independent Telecommunications Corp.
Landscape Design: Inside Outside
Curtains and Interiors Consulting: Inside Outside
Site CA Consultant: Studio Gang Architects
Security Consultant: Sako & Associates, Inc.

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A new student center by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. Photo: Richard Barnes A steel tunnel muffles the noise from commuter trains. Photo: Richard Barnes Inside is a long glass wall displaying the portraits of several IIT founders, including a young Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Photo: Richard Barnes The images are actually pixilated compositions of symbols for student activities that one finds throughout the building. Photo: Richard Barnes   Click on thumbnail images to view full-size pictures.