Ippei Iwata, standing, and Grahm Balkany are students at the Illinois Institute of Technology. A class they are taking in acoustics and illumination is somewhat of a critique of the functionality of the building in which they are working, the McCormick Tribune Campus Center, designed by superstar architect Rem Koolhaas. “The first part of the course was acoustics; now we’re into illumination,” Iwata says. “We already did acoustic analysis,” adds Balkany, “and found it extra loud. If it’s intended as a place in which to study, that’s not good. Now we’re finding the light levels insufficient for study as well.” While architecture professors generally praise the center, engineering profs generally don’t. The course is like a class in Frank Lloyd Wright offered by the roofers union.
