Mies van der Rohe’s workhorse tower in Chicago gets a vibrant remake

Chicago architect Denison renovated and updated a dormitory designed by Mies van der Rohe at the Illinois Institute of Technology. Photos: TNS

The pandemic. The unrest that followed the killing of George Floyd. Rampant looting in downtown Chicago, the United States.

Against that chaotic backdrop, it was moving to experience the profound calm that characterises the architecture of master modernist Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.