Bridging Hospitality

Spring 2016

As a part of the IIT Campus Master Planning Studio under Susannah Drake, 12 students worked together to develop a new Master Plan for the Illinois Institute of Technology Campus. This specific project focuses on the three East/West access points into the campus from the Bridgeport Neighborhood. 31st Street, 33rd Street and 35th Street all provide students, faculty and community members access from their homes in Bridgeport to the IIT Campus and surrounding buildings in Bronzeville.

Each bridge provides a different amenity: 31st St. allowing for the addition of green space and various restaurants; green space, smaller restaurants, and office space would be added on 33rd St; and finally a 26 story hotel added to the 35th Street bridge. All of these street expansions would occur over the Dan Ryan Expressway while cars still passed under.

Due to the studio setup, the final proposal of all classmates ideas were proposed to the IIT Campus Planning Committee as possible solutions to the problems we saw on the campus. No ideas were fully planned out, the studio was used more as a brainstorming semester.