Description:

Fifty years ago, University Library opened its doors for the first time. This bare concrete building, designed by SOM architect Walter Netsch, offered a striking modern counterpoint to the lavishly gothic Deering Library next door, while providing students spacious stacks and tantalizing views. Join Northwestern as we celebrate the golden anniversary of this campus icon with a lecture by Chicago-based architect Iker Gil, executive director of the SOM Foundation, about how Netsch's Brutalist style shaped this and many other buildings on Northwestern's campuses.

Iker Gil is an architect and director of MAS Studio, an architecture and urban design firm based in Chicago. He is also the editor in chief of the design journal MAS Context and the editor of Concrete Chicago Map (Blue Crow Media, 2018) and the book Shanghai Transforming (ACTAR, 2008). He has curated several exhibitions, including BOLD: Alternative Scenarios for Chicago featured in the inaugural Chicago Architecture Biennial. Gil was the Associate Curator of the U.S. Pavilion at the 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale. In addition, he is the executive director of the SOM Foundation and teaches at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s Department of Architecture, Interior Architecture, and Designed Objects (AIADO). Gil has received several grants and awards for his work, including the Emerging Visions Award from the Chicago Architectural Club and grants from the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts and The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation.