Walter Netsch Bibliography

Secondary Sources

1970s

1970

Books

Northwestern University Library Dedication October 21, 1970. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Library, 1970. 8 p. il. plans and diagrams.

Dedication program brochure that includes a section on the concept and programming of the library, photos of the building, donor tributes, and illustrations based on its radial stack arrangement. Gives a short history of the Library Planning and Building Committee, chaired by Clarence L. Ver Steeg, which worked closely with Netsch from 1962 to 1970.

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. Introduction and notes by Christopher Woodward, with 73 photographs by Yukio Futagawa. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1970. 136 p. il. plans.

This book, first published in Japan in 1968, details and illustrates several of Netsch’s projects: the Inland Steel Building in Chicago (p. 12-14, 125); the University of Illinois, Chicago Campus (p. 18, 92-95, 129); and the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado (p. 18-25, 125).

Articles

Smith, C. Ray. “Formen als Prozess: Die Feldtheorie von Walter Netsch.” Deutsche Bauzeitung 104, no. 1 (Januar 1970): 11-15. 11 il. 1 plan.

Presents Netsch's Field Theory system of design and shows it at work in various buildings, including Northwestern University Library, the Architecture and Art Laboratories at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Lindheimer Astronomical Research Center at Northwestern University, Long Library at WElls College, St. Matthew's United Methodist Church in Chicago, Science and Engineering South building at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Biological Sciences Building at Northwestern University, Basic Medical Sciences Building at the University of Iowa, and the Behavioral Sciences Building at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Includes a small photo of Walter Netsch. Many of these projects are individually featured in other articles in this issue. German translation of excerpts from an article on Field Theory that was originally published in Progressive Architecture 50, no. 3 (March 1969): 94-115.

Green, Peter M. “Astronomisches Gestell.” Deutsche Bauzeitung 104, no. 1 (Januar 1970): 16-17. 2 il. 2 plans.

Details Netsch's Lindheimer Astronomical Research Center at Northwestern University. The observatory was constructed at the Northeast point of the Lakefill in 1966. It was demolished in 1995.

“Die Glorifizierung des Korridors.” Deutsche Bauzeitung 104, no. 1 (Januar 1970): 18-21. 3 il. 3 plans.

Short piece on the Architecture and Art Laboratories at the University of Illinois at Chicago, with an emphasis on the building's interior corridors. Includes a sweeping aerial view of the campus under construction.

“Vierstern mit Anhang.” Deutsche Bauzeitung 104, no. 1 (Januar 1970): 22-23. 2 il. 2 plans.

Highlights the Science and Engineering South building at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Includes floor plans based on Field Theory and photos of the model.

“Passage à la Milano.” Deutsche Bauzeitung 104, no. 1 (Januar 1970): 24-25. 4 plans.

Concerns designs for Basic Medical Sciences Bulding at the University of Iowa.

“Galaxis–symmetrisch.”Deutsche Bauzeitung 104, no. 1 (Januar 1970): 26-27. 2 il. 1 plan.

Presents Field Theory-inspired designs and photos of the Behavior Science Center at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Smith, C. Ray. “Environment für Bücher.” Deutsche Bauzeitung 104, no. 1 (Januar 1970): 28-31. 3 il. 4 plans.

Netsch's Thomas Jefferson Long Library at Wells College is showcased in this article. The Wells College Library was Netsch's first Field Theory library and one of his favorite commissions. Includes exterior and interior photos, as well as elevations and base plate shoe and beam connection detail diagrams.

Haas, Joseph. “A Library Programmed for People.” Chicago Daily News-Panorama (January 10-11, 1970): 4-5. 3 il.

Concentrates on the "human program" behind the new research library at Northwestern University. According to Walter Netsch, "All we've done is relook at an age-old idea and extrapolate it into 20th Century forms, needs and materials. It's very contemporary, and yet we hope it hasn't lost the traditional quality a library should have of quiet dignity and of privacy." (p. 4). Quotes Netsch and Clarence L. Ver Steeg, "chairman of the faculty planning and building committee that midwifed the library in its eight years from conception to completion." (p. 4). The second half of the article walks the reader through the library's different components, including service, study, and collection areas. Also discusses the library's color scheme and furnishings.

Mount, Charles. “N.U. Library Integrates People, Books.” Chicago Tribune (January 11, 1970). 4 il.

Harsh, Bonita. “If Books Ever Become Obsolete, Library Ready.” Evanston Review (February 16, 1970). 6 il.

“The Libes.” Northwestern Engineer (March 1970): 18-19. 5 il.

“Northwestern Planned a Living Library.” College & University Business 48 no. 5 (May 1970): 67-70. 5 il.

Selected as the "College Building of the Month," this feature introduces readers to the new $12 million library at Northwestern University. It explains the library's radical contemporary style and its radial book stacks, as well as elements of various service and study areas. Concludes with a caption that shows "Construction Details" and a list, "What Makes This Building Different."

Shields, Gerald R. “Northwestern’s New Library.” Photos by James Biery. American Libraries 1, no. 5 (May 1970): cover, 442-445. 10 il. 2 plans.

Heavily illustrated presentation of the new research library at Northwestern. Begins:

Most librarians are not going to like Northwestern University's new $12 million library that sits on stilts on a thrust of land-fill edging Lake Michigan. The rough grey cement exterior at a distance looks like corrugated boxes on their sides. Yet, as you approach the building and step onto its stone plaza, your eye is pleased and delighted by the variety of forms, spatial relationships, thrusts, and indentations. It is a giant piece of sculpture that changes with the light of day and the angle of the seasonal sun. (p. 444).

Examines service and collection areas and comments favorably on its design features and aesthetics. Speculates on challenges for the library staff in operating the facility, but concludes: "But they have a library that is a pleasure to be in, inviting to use, and stimulating to the mind. There aren't too many around that can say that." (p. 445). Reprints photos of the exterior and interior, as well as simple floor plans of a tower and "cultural center. Also includes size, cost, and construction details.

“A Library for People.” Photos by George Bangs. Northwestern Report 1, no. 3 (Spring 1970): 26-[35]. 15 il.

Heavily illustrated panorama of the new library at Northwestern University that focuses on student and faculty uses. Includes many interior photos with captions of the faculty.

“Critics Praise Wells Library.” Syracuse Herald-American (July 26, 1970). 1 il.

Concerns Netsch's Wells College Library, located in Aurora, NY.

“The Northwestern University Library by Walter Netsch of SOM.” Architectural Record 148, no. 1 (July 1970): cover, 89-96.

This review describes Netsch’s Northwestern University Library and discusses its principal design goals. The library was built to be accessible to all members of the university community. It was intended to be built on a reader's scale, which was accomplished through breaking the space into round towers. The design also sought to maximize exterior wall surface and windows to give light to as many readers as possible, and to accommodate a large portion of the university's population simultaneously. The author cites the library, an immediate precursor to Netsch’s Field Theory, as a major work of twentieth-century architecture.

“A Library Built on Research.”Environmental Planning and Design 8, no. 4 (July-August 1970): cover, 17-27. 22 il. 3 plans.

Previews the new research library at Northwestern University. Examines the library's programming and design challenges with particular attention to collection space in the book towers: "...the provision for an overlapping rectangular grid enabling increased numbers of books to be stored does give the building's carefully structured environment a flexibility that similar institutions would be grateful to have." (p. 26). Includes numerous photographs and floor plans that illustrate service areas and furnishings.

Zevi, Bruno. “La biblioteca universitaria di Walter Netsch: Un albergo foderato con milioni di libri.” L’Espresso, agosto 30, 1970. 2 il.

“Dedicate Library at N.U.” Chicago Tribune (October 22, 1970). 6 il.

Zotti, Ed. “Library Dedicated: Minow Urges Moderation.” Daily Northwestern 91, no. 22 (October 22, 1970). 1 il.

Dixon, John Morris. “New Galaxies at Chicago Circle.” Architectural Forum 133, no. 4 (November 1970): 24-33. 25 il. 6 plans.

This review describes and evaluates Netsch’s Behavioral Science Center and the Science and Engineering South buildings, both of which were added to the Chicago Circle campus during later phases of development. Both buildings represent what the author calls the “high” phase of Netsch’s Field Theory. Both are large and complex, composed as systems of repeated modules in a range of sizes. The new buildings are not functionally separated like the rest of the campus, but instead integrate offices, labs, lecture halls, and libraries. This organization has proved to be even more appropriate for the graduate population than was originally anticipated.

"Walter A. Netsch: Welcoming Groves of Academe Beside the Lake” Interiors 130, no. 4 (November 1970):110-15, 169-70. 14 il. 1 plan.

Describes and discusses Netsch’s Northwestern University Library, emphasizing its relationship to Netsch’s Field Theory, of which it is a precursor. The library’s crystalline surface, lack of façade, avoidance of masses, and avoidance of disrupting the landscape are all elements which became important in Field Theory. States:

For in a sense Netsch is the victim of his own orderliness of mind. He has been so successful at pinning down Field Theory principles that he has made some of us lose sight of the psychic raison d'être of the approach, and the wonderful environmental results which can be achieved with it by a designer of his talent. (p. 110).

Includes a floor plan of a stack tower floor, exterior and interior views, close-ups of furniture and decorative elements, and a list of suppliers.

Marlin, William, and Anne Patterson. "Celebrating Art in Life and Life in Art: Four Architects' Own Designs for Living." Inland Architect 14, no. 8 (December 1970): 8-11. 7 il.

Describes Walter and Dawn Netsch's Chicago condominium, with an emphasis on their collection of modern art. Narrative proceeds room-by-room, beginning at the entrance hall and continuing to the two-story living room, library-dining room, and master bedroom. Photos show art works from the collection, as arranged in the home, including a small photo of Mr. Netsch.

1971

Books

Metropolitan Fund, Inc. Regional New-Town Design: A Paired Community for Southeast Michigan. Detroit, 1971. 161 p. il. maps.

Walter Netsch's SOM design team prepared schematics for this project, located near Detroit. The document explains the concept, introduces the design team (see xviii for a group photo with Mr. Netsch), and presents the physical plan, social imperatives, economic model, and town government. The project was not completed.

University of Iowa Museum of Art. Living with Art: Selected Loans from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Walter A. Netsch. With an introduction by Walter Netsch. September 15 through October 21, 1971. Iowa City: University of Iowa Museum of Art, 1971. 20 p. 18 il.

This book is a catalogue of the show, curated by Ulfert Wilke, that first showcased the Netsch collection at a college art museum. The catalogue contains large photos of the Netsch home, with works from the exhibition pictured and accompanied by corresponding catalogue numbers. Brief descriptive information is provided for each of the 79 pieces of painting, sculpture, rugs and glass. Netsch's introduction discusses why he collects art and how it informs his architectural designs. Review: Art Journal 31, no. 4 (Summer 1972): 446.

Articles

“Centro di scienze comportamentali e Facoltà di scienze ed ingegneria sud per l’Università di Chicago.” L’Architettura 16 (Aprile 1971): 815-19. 14 il. 6 plans.

Features Netsch’s Science Center and Art and Architecture Center at the University of Illinois, Chicago. Illustrations include exterior and interior views, as well as a full-page floor plan of the Science Center (p. 815).

Horny, Karen. “Building Northwestern’s Core.” Library Journal 96, no. 9 (May 1, 1971): 1580-583. il.

Article about Northwestern University Library, by a librarian.

Osman, Mary E. "City and Suburb in Tandem." AIA Journal 55, no. 6 (June 1971): 43-44. 1 il.

Discusses the report, Regional New-Town Design: A Paired Community for Southeast Michigan, which proposes to reconcile inner city and suburb polarization by creating a common bond to unite city and suburb. Dr. Hubert Locke of Wayne State University leads the group and sees the report as an attempt to, "make certain that future urban growth-both physical and economic-takes into account the needs of both city and suburb, so that one is not expanded and enhanced at the expense of the other." The physical planning team for the project is, "a multifaceted group of architects and planners under the overall supervision of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill..." Structure, regional governance, and economics of the plan are detailed.

Francis, Simon. “A Traveling Librarian in the United States.” Assistant Librarian: Journal of the Association of Assistant Librarians 64, no. 8 (August 1971): 114-18. 3 il.

Miller, Nory. “Two Libraries Miles Apart Yet Sharing a Family Origin.” Inland Architect 15, no. 4 (November 1971): [7]-13. 8 il. 2 plans.

Compares two nearly simultaneous Netsch projects: Northwestern University Library and Regenstein Library at the University of Chicago. The article outlines the schemes underlying both libraries and articulates the differences between the two. The author concludes that Northwestern University Library is generally a more successful building, although Regenstein Library suits its research-centered function.

“Northwestern University Utilized New Methods.” Chicago Tribune (December 5, 1971). 1 il.

Elsen, Patricia. “College Museum Notes.” Art Journal 31, no. 2 (Winter 1971-1972): 186.

Mentions two paintings by Richard Smith given by Mr. and Mrs. Netsch to the University of Iowa.

Unpublished Material

"Walter Netsch: His Recent Work and Why It Is Changing." Architecture lecture, 03/09/71. Archives reel-to-reel tape number 71-9. Office of Public Affairs, Washington University in Saint Louis.

1972

Books

Wille, Lois. Forever Open, Clear and Free; The Historic Struggle for Chicago's Lakefront. Chicago: Henry Regnery Co., 1972. 175 p. il. maps.

Describes Netsch's volunteer work on a Chicago metropolitan housing and planning project in the late 1960s:

The council's plan was prepared by a task force headed by Walter Netsch, a top architect and designer of the striking Chicago Circle Campus of the University of Illinois. He recommended that high-intensity development, both residential and commercial, be restricted to the areas adjacent to mile streets, with medium-intensity development at half-mile streets and low-intensity development, restricted to low-rise buildings, at quarter-mile streets. At two-block intervals there would be park strips, open vistas with easy access to the lakefront parks and beaches. (p. 172)

Articles

“New Form for Therapy [Winnebago Children’s Home Near Neillsville, Wisconsin].” Architectural Forum 136, no. 5 (June 1972): 62-64. 4 il. 2 plans.

Describes Netsch’s houses at the Winnebago Children’s Home for emotionally disturbed children. The houses are built in a radial design around a large two-story center space for community activities. The houses’ design encourages a community atmosphere while also allowing easy supervision and is conducive to the interaction and stability necessary for the childrens' therapy.

“A New Geometry for the Library Inside the Neo-Classic Dome at MIT.” Architectural Record152, no. 3 (September 1972): 119-24. 14 il. 4 plans.

Describes and evaluates Netsch’s redesigned interior for the dome of the engineering library at MIT. Netsch’s interior juxtaposes his own geometric forms, based on a system of intersecting diagonals, with the neoclassical form of the dome. Netsch solved the problems presented by the space through the use of furniture design and placement, redesigned lighting and acoustics, selection of sculpture, plants and color. He also addressed acoustical problems by installing carpet, removing a hanging light fixture, and installing acoustic panels in the coffers of the dome.

“The Labor of Love that Created a New Church in a Wasted Ghetto.” Inland Architect 16, no. 10 (December 1972): 22-24. 3 il. 1 plan.

Discusses St. Matthew United Methodist Church in Chicago, designed by Netsch in hopes of helping spur urban renewal in the poor neighborhood near the Cabrini-Green housing project. While the church is a successful multi-functional structure, the project did not have enough funding to complete other initiatives, such as adding housing. The parish is plagued by social problems that the building alone cannot solve.

Unpublished Material

Schramm, Peter. "A Study of Walter A. Netsch’s Field Theory of Design." Kent, OH: Kent State University School of Architecture and Environmental Design, 1972. 18 p. 4 diagrams.

Student paper prepared for a class at Kent State University's School of Architecture and Environmental Design ("AR 448") in May 1972. Schramm examines Netsch's Field Theory, citing examples of its use in projects such as the U.S.A.F.A. Cadet Chapel, Northwestern University Library, Grinnell College's Forum, the University of Illinois at Chicago Circle Campus, and Wells College Library in Aurora, NY. Pages 11-15 reproduce a diagram of the radial floor plan arrangement at Northwestern University Library (p. 12), schematics of various lattice systems employed in Field Theory (p. 13), schematic floor plan of UIC's Pahlovi Building (p. 14), and schematics of UIC's Architecture and Arts Building (p. 15).

1973

Books

Owings, Nathaniel Alexander. The Spaces In Between: An Architect's Journey. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1973. 303 p. il.

Autobiography of Nat Owings (1915-1984), a founding partner of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, and Walter Netsch's mentor and advocate at the firm. According to the foreword, "What follows is a very personal recording. I have selected only things that make me laugh or swear or cry." (vii). Includes reminiscences and anecdotes about Netsch, some of which are excerpted below:

In Chicago we had brilliant young designers-like Ambrose Richardson, Harry Weese, Charles Dornbusch-who came and went. It would be five years before Chicago had a third partner: William Hartmann, and another five before Walter Netsch, the first of the youngsters to stick, joined the partnership. (p. 67).

Creating clients, getting jobs; both took time and patience. Lee [sic Leigh] Block of Inland Steel had spoken to me in 1949 of a new building, but it was five years before he authorized the Inland Steel building which would be the first new office building to go up in Chicago in twenty-two years, squeezed in among the smoke-stained, weather-worn monuments to another era. This was one of Walter Netsch's endless ideas which forever tumbled in profusion, evidencing a spirit and a talent which almost consumed him. As a solution for just such a building, and in order to compete with the cheaper conditions in the suburbs, he would eliminate inside columns, thus providing a stack of rectangular loft spaces like hot cakes one on top of the other. To do this, all services-elevators, power, sewer, water, toilets-were consolidated in an attached outside vertical shaft, services freed of entanglement with the twenty or thirty or forty floors of the useful building space. (p. 121).

We learned slowly to adjust to things Japanese [in 1953]. I watched fish-allergic Walter Netsch turn green as he settled his six-foot-six frame into the approved Buddha squat, eyeing a very dead, unblinking fish on a plate before him at our first official Japanese dinner in Tokyo. I have often wondered what would have happened if that fish had blinked. (p. 129).

Monterey's luxuriously beautiful old Hotel Del Monte, built in 1887, was bought by the United States Navy in 1943. With the money Morse made from this sale, he hired Gardner Dailey, just famous for his "Bay Area houses," and me to expand the more profitable Del Monte Lodge. When this job was completed I offered SOM's services to the navy direct for the Post Graduate Technical School which they proposed to build and they handed us standard barracks plans which, if applied to that beautiful site, would have required the destruction of its dozens of ancient oaks. At this point young Walter Netsch, fresh from Oak Ridge, faced with his first important architectural opportunity in SOM, simply refused to proceed with the barracks plans; and, aware that he was committing an architectural form of mutiny punishable with termination of the contract by the client if the plan for change was unsuccessful, asked for and got permission to appeal this monstrous plan to the admirals in Washington, D.C. I agreed in principle, but from a practical point of view, how were we to crack this one? I turned to Skid's great friend, George Ferris, chairman of the board of the Raymond Concrete Pile Company, who had never failed in some thirty years to produce just the right man. The right man was Admiral Herman in the Bureau of Yards and Docks. Netsch made a model.

Admiral Herman, a man of ships and guns, was transfixed with amazement as Netsch cleared the model's terrain of oak and eucalyptus trees and covered the flattened surface with standard-plan barracks-and then, in swift sleight of hand, resurrected the trees from destruction, neatly fitted between the gleaming pavilions, leaving the reincarnated countryside intact. At that time not just navy men but most educators were doing their academic planning by the seat of their pants. Not Netsch! He won over Admiral Herman and gained a thirty-day period of grace in which to put up or shut up.

Netsch moved his San Francisco crew to Annapolis, Maryland. At night the admiral would come over to their barracks work-shop-bedrooms and share in this first taste-for him-of research and programming. (p. 140-41).

At the heart of our interest in the Air Force Academy project lay a kernel of old-fashioned, sentimental idealism framed in history. Louis Skidmore not only had begun to look something like Churchill but also shared some of his sense of history. This sense of history in its essence was epitomized in the problem posed in designing a chapel. Since no one felt very deeply about religion anymore, and since the Air Force Academy chapel must house all principal religions under one roof, what did one do? SOM would rise to the heights just this once and build to the Virgin instead of the Dynamo-even if she was a warlike Virgin-and we would raise a house to God with a passion and a meaning of its own. It turned out that our avenging angel in this case was Walter Netsch.

One day Jim Douglas, by then secretary of air in his own right, called me and said, "I've been on the Hill for five hours before the Senate Finance Committee. One hour and forty-five minutes were spent on next year's entire budget for the air force, about four and a half billion dollars, and the other three and a half hours on your damn chapel. I got it approved just as you fellows have it designed. (p. 158).

In the final approved chapel roof system there are five miles of one-and-a-half-inch-thick stained glass strips between the tetrahedrons. I know this because the design was laid out entirely by hand on brown paper, rolled up foot by foot as Walter Netsch drew and colored it in on his living room floor. Showing it to anyone who would look, he carried a model of the chapel around with him everywhere in a little case, with Christmas tree lighting that could be hooked up to the nearest outlet, gaining form each of his partners approval to fight for that chapel's inclusion in the plan. With its seventeen tetrahedrons and five miles of glass besides, unchanged, the original design was finally finished two years after the rest of the academy was in operation. The framework was a lacy skeleton of tubular steel tetrahedrons stacked one on top of the other, reaching a hundred and fifty feet toward the sky-still the most striking example of this relatively new kind of structure in the United States. (p. 159).

The fruit of the SOM tree, by the laws of pure genetics, had to have some resemblance to the tree, no matter how exotic that fruit might be. Like steel filings drawn to a magnet, the result would be in orderly rows: straight, stiff and rigid. The Air Force Academy had to be an impersonal derivative of the conscious and subconscious rule of our order. When we refer philosophically to humanity, to warmth, we think of soft, pliable surfaces, of depths, of things that give, have texture. These were things we couldn't do-yet. But in the evolution of people as well as architecture, in the development of Walter Netsch or Chuck Bassett, we can see later on the widening of the vision, the enriching of the palette. (p. 160).

When the University of Illinois decided to experiment with their Chicago campus, which had no dormitories and was centered in the heart of an enormous freeway interchange that would bring students from every segment of Chicago, Walter Netsch would draw on the rich compost resulting from his work on the Air Force Academy. The result-the university's Circle Campus-is the plastic and concrete yang to the academy's steel and glass yin; the one for twenty-five hundred cadets, the other for twenty-five thousand Chicago youths-richer for the work done at Colorado Springs. (p. 161).

As a light breeze stirred the leaves of the banyan tree I thought of Ambrose Richardson, Walter Netsch, Tallie Maule and a good many other young men who had come our way-gold nuggets of pure design talent discovered at Oak Ridge. Returnees from military service, these youngsters thrilled to the instant results possible there and helped develop unique techniques of research, programming and design. Freed of worrisome client headaches,budgetary squeezes and hemming and hawing, each new project they designed went up fast. Under these conditions their designs proved not only the boys' worth to us, but the system's benefit to them. They were potential partners, yet some had left us. Some didn't like our ideas. Some simply wanted to squeeze SOM dry. Some thought that anonymity was for the birds. Some couldn't stand the hard-driving tactics. (p. 178).

Group practice? The Gothic Builders? The individual stars? The Bunshafts and the Netschs, and later the Bassetts and the Grahams? There was a lot more to it than that. There was a steady flow of creativity going on among the collective us, indefinable, sometimes unexplainable, but working extremely well. In fact, the success of this aggregation of creative people, professionals all, was living proof of the workability of miracles. (p. 179).

One trademark of our profession is "great architecture designed by great architects," and by the early 1960s I felt that SOM could claim five of the dozen or so famous names generally acclaimed as such in the United States. A substantial part of the success of each of these five could be attributed to the workings of our own system-Gordon Bunshaft, Walter Netsch, Bruce Graham, Charles Bassett and Myron Goldsmith, their geniuses surfacing from a neutral start within our firm. (p. 268-69).

Days later a phone call from Walter Netsch reached me at Big Sur. I found him tackling one of the toughest sections of St. Louis in a total effort to resolve the repressions of a depressed area; to mount an on-site self-renewal of the blacks in the central core. I heard him say all this in a voice filled with excitement and emotion. "But, Nat, this job cannot be charged on a commercial basis. How can we accomplish it within the fabric of SOM?" "We will discuss this as a research project when the partners next meet," I told Walter. And at the meeting I heard them say, the partners, "We wish to give, not take, fees here. Profits from conventional work will be reinvested in such sensitive areas." (p. 284-85).

A photo section between pages 146 and 147 shows Netsch in 1957 with other SOM partners, two photos of the U.S. Air Force Academy, and a double-spread of the UIC's Circle Campus under construction with Netsch at the site.

Articles

“People in P/A.” Progressive Architecture 54, no. 4 (April 1973): 7. 2 il.

Editorial introduction to the issue that devotes several paragraphs to Walter Netsch. Three of Netsch's new buildings at the University of Iowa are featured in the same issue (p. 82-91). States, "Walter Netsch's field theory is only one facet of SOM/Chicago, involving only 10 of the 475 employees. 'We began looking for modes outside the box in 1959, while working on the Air Force Academy Chapel,' Netsch recalls. 'We went through stages of increased formality (of field applications) leading to increasing familiarity of field's properties.' To him, the field theory has matured as an organizing device." Includes a photo of Mr. Netsch.

Murphy, James A. “Iowa’s Fields.” Progressive Architecture 54, no. 4 (April 1973): 82-91. 9 il.

Features three new buildings at the University of Iowa that were designed according to Netsch's Field Theory: Basic Sciences Building (p. 84-87), Health Sciences Library (p. 88-89), and Educational Research Building (p. 90-91). Begins with an introduction to Field Theory and Netsch's "new approach to technology." Quotes Netsch: "Technological architecture, which is different from Mies, was leading to some very mundane and aggressively ugly buildings. We do not start with the material as the demigod, but with ordering as the demigod." (p. 82). Sections on individual buildings detail their design, show floor plans, sketches, engineering elements, and exteriors. Concludes:

One thing is clear from discussions with Walter Netsch: he will not remain within the relative comfort of rules from past field theory experience. In addition to using field theory as a way of looking at things, he constantly looks for new ways of looking at fields. Geometric ordering of architecture is not unique to Netsch, but the extent and steady change of field theory set it apart. "You see, to be able to work on a building, find its form and then suddenly get its field later-that would be intuitive to me," he says. "I'm sure, however, that some people think of that as highly inventive." Almost all design begins, consciously or unconsciously, with a learned body of knowledge. The Golden Mean, Le Modulor, observations and past experiences-all can have bearing on how a designers orders his creative process, and its result. So can field theory. (p. 90).

McCue, George. “$57,000,000 Later: An Interdisciplinary Effort is Being Made to put Pruitt-Igoe Together Again.” Architectural Forum 138 no. 4 (May 1973): 42-45. 8 il. 2 plans.

Discusses an "interdisciplinary effort" to put Pruitt-Igoe, St. Louis's notorious 1950s public housing project, "together again." Walter Netsch (shown in a group photo on p. 45), was part of this ultimately unsuccessful enterprise. The St. Louis Public Housing Authority began demolition of the complex in 1972.

“Netsch in biblioteca [Joseph Regenstein Library, l’Università di Chicago].” L’Architettura 19 (October 1973): 324-25. 7 il. 5 plans.

This brief article includes small photographs of exteriors and interiors of the University of Chicago's Joesph Regenstein Library, floor plans, and one paragraph-length caption.

1974

Books

Architecture of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, 1963-1973. Introduction by Arthur Drexler; commentaries by Axel Menges. London: Architectural Press, 1974. 283 p. il. plans.

This book features 77 major SOM projects completed between 1963 and 1973 (including nine by Netsch), with text in English and German. It highlights Netsch’s designs for Miami University Art Museum, Oxford, Ohio (p. 174-77), including a double-spread color photograph of the museum’s exterior. Joseph Regenstein Library, University of Chicago is featured on pages 202-07; Louis Jefferson Long Library, Wells College, Aurora, NY (p. 208-15); campus and buildings at UIC Circle Campus (p. 224-29); Lindheimer Astronomical Research Center, Northwestern University (p. 248-51); and Housing Units at the Winnebago Children's Home, Neillsville, Wisconsin (p. 260-63).

Articles

Powers, Richard Gid. “The Cold War in the Rockies: American Ideology and the Air Force Academy Design.”Art Journal 33, no. 4 (Summer 1974): 304-13. 5 il.

Analysis of the U.S. Air Force Academy, which the author views as a technocratic example of 1950s military establishment International Style. Places the Academy's Architecture in the Cold War era, and reviews the predominance of International Style in the 1950s. Photos show the site, the Cadet Chapel, and cadets marching. Concludes:

A visit to the Air Force Academy is a melancholy experience. It is one stop on the American grand tour of the West, sharing the itinerary with the Grand Canyon, the Rocky Mountains, and Yellowstone, a journey along expressways, with stops at motels, and food at dude ranches. Everywhere there is the contrast between what America once was and what it has become. Behind the Academy the Rockies tower; the approach road circles the prodigious grounds; the school is a cluster of tinny boxes barking their littleness at the snowy peaks. The grounds are immaculate: not a blade of grass, not a leaf is out of place; the gridiron lines on the football field are as precise and ordered as a mathematician's demonstration that, given determination, money, and men enough, the universe will yet confirm Euclid's geometry. (p. 313).

Powers was an associate professor of American Studies at Richmond College, C.U.N.Y. when the article was published.

"1974 Honor Awards, Merit Awards, Special Mentions." Wisconsin Architect (June 1974): 21-31. il. plans.

Part of a larger article listing individual winning buildings that includes Netsch's Sunburst Youth Homes in Neillsville, Wisconsin (p. 24-25), winner of an Honor Award. The project's problem, solutions devised by the architect, and jury comments are accompanied by plans and illustrations. Concludes:

These buildings are very intimate and friendly in scale and imaginative in structure. The architect expanded beyond the normal ordering system of rectilinear or a straightline structural square. There is a sense of fun, with a lot of ups and downs and around the corners. This low, small scale residential solution is very appropriate and well detailed.

Moore, Patricia. "Top Architect Builds his Dream Home." Chicago Daily News (October 25, 1974): 25.

Moore praises the newly completed Netsch home in the Old Town neighborhood. Describes the neighborhood, their art collection, and the interior of the Netsch home. Briefly mentions Dawn Clark Netsch's contributions to its planning and Walter's career highlights. Concludes, "Netsch termed all of this 'The field theory-a developing series of geometric views, the esthetics of what you look at."

1975

Articles

“In Progress.” Progressive Architecture 56, no. 3 (March 1975): 33. 2 il.

Brief report on progress of the 216,500 square-foot centennial addition to the Art Institute of Chicago's east side and 46,000 square-foot remodeling project to be completed in 1976. Netsch's design is praised for keeping heights lower than the existing structures and for bridging the railroad tracks. Notes that some School of the Art Institute faculty members are unhappy about the size of the space for the school.

1976

Books

Cohen, Stuart E. Chicago Architects. With an introduction by Stanley Tigerman. Chicago: Swallow Press Inc., 1976. 120 p. il.

This is the catalogue of the traveling exhibition that presented a revisionist history of Chicago architecture from the turn of the century, concentrating on the work of the Second School of Chciago Architects. Cohen’s essay outlines Netsch’s Field Theory, touches on the influence of Shingle Style and Wright’s early work, and describes the Netsch home (p. 17). It includes photos and a plan of the Netsch home (p. 60), as well as photos of the Sunburst Youth Home (p. 59) and the Frances Searle Building (p. 62). A short biography and portrait of Netsch is on pages 116-17.

Articles

Orne, Jerrold. “Academic Library Buildings: A Century in Review.”College & Research Libraries 37, no. 4 (July 1976): 316-331. 10 il.

History of academic library buildings from 1876 to 1976 that includes photos (p. 319) of Northwestern University's Orrington Lunt Library (1894-1932), Charles Deering Library (1932), and Northwestern University Library (1970). Briefly mentions all three libraries, as well as Netsch's contributions to academic library designs, e.g., "We continue to have a liberal infusion of design modes coming from other cultures, in buildings of Breuer, Aalto, Pereira, Netsch, Yamasaki." (p. 328).

Morton, David, and Suzanne Stephens. “The House as a Relevant Object.”Progressive Architecture 57, no. 8 (August 1976): 37-41. 23 il. 7 plans.

Introduction to the feature articles on five contemporary houses, published in the same issue. Mentions Netsch's house briefly: "Walter Netsch creates a 20th-century free house." (p. 38).

Stephens, Suzanne, and John Dixon. “Netsch House, Chicago, Ill.” Progressive Architecture 57, no. 8 (August 1976): 46-49. 12 il. 4 plans.

Begins with the subheading, "Architect's house in Chicago provides a personal proving ground to the test his design theories on a small scale." Presents Netsch's home on North Hudson Avenue, constructed in 1974. Explains his experimentation with Field Theory: "The interior of the volume is essentially an open loft with living levels spiraling partially around a kitchen-bathroom core. The house, in Netsch's works, becomes an 'event' in which the sequence of spaces is three-dimensional along a strong organizing diagonal." (p. 47). Details the search and selection of the site (it had to be located in State Senator Dawn Clark Netsch's district) and development of the program. Includes comments by Netsch on design elements and solutions, such as "Asked for his reactions to the house, Netsch points out that the heat load through the skylights was greater than anticipated: corrugated plastic shields had to be installed outside." (p. 47). In their overview, the authors are critical of exterior façades and window placement, and heap praise on the high open interior space: "Inside, on the other hand, the spaces are lovely, dynamic, and rather dramatic. The spiral tree house had taken over from the rotated squares. ...It becomes a diagram of the field theory construct that now explains the configuration of the house's exterior envelope. The skylights work exceptionally well in illuminating the art, plus providing lots of natural light with privacy..." (p. 47-48). Concludes that the house successfully reflects the architect's individuality as an expression of Field Theory aesthetics. Includes interior and exterior photographs (some in color), as well as floor plans and elevations.

Harrison, Jacquelyn Ann, and Donald Rue Kingman. "Inside & Outside the New School." The New Art Examiner 4, no. 3 (December 1976): 1, 4, 19. 4 il.

Purports to reveal inner workings and politics of decisions behind the new Columbus Drive building of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Netsch's design solutions are addressed on page 4, in a mostly positive light:

What Walter Netsch has done here, aside from weilding [sic] a very skillful shoehorn, is to provide the School with a very arresting presence. (The reflective glass was a part of that intention.) The building does have character both inside and out. And it has a high quality look about it. In our opinion, Walter Netsch's architectural signature is as distinctive and culturally valuable as those of Frank Lloyd Wright, Mies van der Rohe, le Corbusier and Louis I. Kahn and this is a great big free bonus for the School. There's no reason why this kind of high quality visibility cannot be made to serve many positive purposes. The Board of Trustees and the Committee on the School are each to be congratulated on their choice of architect.

1977

Books

Smith, C. Ray. Supermannerism: New Attitudes in Post-Modern Architecture. NY: E.P. Dutton, 1977. 354 p. il.

Smith interprets the architecture of Netsch and other modernists as being influences on the next generation of "Supermannerist" architects through their postmodern uses of wit, camp, and ambiguity. He discusses the process of designing with Field Theory at some length.

Articles

Miller, Nory. “Evaluation: The University of Illinois’ Chicago Circle Campus as Urban Design.”AIA Journal 66, no. 1 (January 1977): 24-31. 12 il.

Evaluates the Chicago Circle campus eleven years after completion. Describes the many problems the campus poses for users, including a lack of flexibility, a functional separation of spaces that undermines community-building, and an alienating, futuristic appearance. Concludes, "Circle campus was built with ambition and a sense of adventure by both client and architect. Its disfavor today almost mirrors the disfavor in which the general planning implements and goals of the mid-century are held. ... The disillusionment is not so much with technology ... but with an environment that calls up the image of the machine." (p. 31). Includes twelve photos of the campus walkways and buildings.

Goldberger, Paul. "A Sullivan Room is Created in Chicago." New York Times (April 7, 1977). 1 il.

Critiques the reconstructed trading room from the old Chicago Stock Exchange, designed by Dankmar Adler and Louis Sullivan in 1893, installed in a new addition at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1977. Praises the restoration project and preservation of the room's decorative elements. Criticizes Netsch's glass-enclosed corridor and new entrance arch, as well as the displacement of Sullivan's original arch in a small garden beside the museum.

"Seeley Mud Library Preview." Northwestern Alumni News (September 1977): 1. 3 il.

Short announcement of a reception for donors and committee members held upon the completion of the Seeley G. Mudd Science-Engineering Library at Northwestern University on October 14, 1977. Includes a photo of Walter Netsch and John McGowan, University Librarian.

“Art Institute of Chicago.”Architectural Review 162, no. 968 (October 1977): 233. 2 il. 2 plans.

Part of a special section on Chicago architecture, this article discusses Netsch’s east addition to the Art Institute of Chicago. Using characteristic diagonals, Netsch added space for the School of the Art Institute, reintegrated the Sullivan and Adler Stock Exchange Trading Room, and added additional exhibition spaces. Author finds some spaces awkward, in particular stairs on the diagonal, and believes the series of linked pavilions deliberately contradicts the symmetry of the older buildings.

“Architect’s house in Lincoln Park.”Architectural Review 162, no. 968 (October 1977): 234. 3 il. 1 plan.

Part of a special section on Chicago architecture, this article describes Netsch's home on North Hudson in a neighborhood on the North Side of Chicago that was quite rundown when the house was built. The house is a large cube with its "very stimulating interior" space divided by a system of diagonal walls radiating from the center and by the use of multiple levels to divide space in a manner that allows a feeling of openness and flow. Notes, "The broad effect is to dramatize in an extraordinary way the functions of a house. ... Here, there are virtually no doors and therefore no sealing off of space from space." Photos show exterior and two interior views.

"Science-Engineering Library Feted." Northwestern Alumni News (November 1977): 4. 5 il.

Coverage of the October 14, 1977 dedication of the Seeley G. Mudd Library for Science and Engineering at Northwestern University. Photos show the building and dignitaries at the ceremony.

Pran, Peter C. “The Diversity of Design Among Chicago Architects Today.” L’Architettura 23, no. 8 (dicembre 1977): 434-[474].

Discusses the rise of a pluralistic, postmodern architecture in Chicago in the 1970s following the death of Mies van der Rohe in 1970 and the subsequent diminishing influence of the “heroes” of the Second Chicago School of architecture. Netsch and Bruce Graham’s Inland Steel Building is mentioned as one of the foremost buildings from 1945 to 1970, when modernism dominated Chicago architecture. The article includes images and captions of 33 examples of innovative works by Chicago architects designed since 1970. Discussion of Netsch’s home includes the use of Field Theory in its design (p. 454-55, with 4 il. and 2 plans.)

1978

Books

Craig, Louis. The Federal Presence: Architecture, Politics, and Symbols in United States Government Building. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1978. 580 p. il. plans and diagrams.

Extensive historical and thematic survey of federal buildings, prepared by Craig and the staff of the Federal Architecture Project. Covers the U.S. Air Force Academy on pages 477-79, including mentions of Netsch and photos of the Cadet Chapel. Reprints excerpts from the architectural and popular press about each building project. Regarding the U.S.A.F.A., the authors state: "Perhaps no architectural debate over government building in the 1950s equaled the discussion about the design for the new U.S. Air Force Academy." (p. 474). A paperback edition was issued in 1984.

Review: Bates Lowry, Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 40, no. 2 (May 1981): 146-47.

Articles

“A Handsome Llibrary in a Resort Town (Selby Public Library, Sarasota, Fla.)”Architectural Record 164, no. 1 (July 1978): 96-8. 6 il. 2 plans.

Describes Netsch’s Selby Public Library in Sarasota, Florida. Netsch endeavored to bring an intimate scale to readers while providing interesting and energy-efficient spaces. The plan is composed of interlocking hexagonals within a square grid. The 30,000 square-foot libray accommodates 200,000 volumes. Includes six photos of exterior and interior views, and two floor plans.

1979

Books

Drexler, Arthur. Transformations in Modern Architecture. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1979. 168 p. il.

Catalogue to an exhibition held February 23 - April 24, 1979. Mentions the U.S. Air Force Academy (p. 14-15 with two photos) and the Long Library, Wells College, Aurora, NY (p. 138, with one photo). Of the Wells College Library, the author notes: "Walter Netsch's library is particularly interesting in its use of an overhanging roof as if it were a starched handkerchief draped over the walls."

Articles

“The Baldwin Community Medicine Building of the Mayo Clinic, by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.”Architectural Record 166, no. 5 (October 1979): 112-19. 10 il. 5 plans.

Describes and evaluates Netsch’s design for the Baldwin Community Medicine Building at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Based on Netsch’s Field Theory, the building is composed in a pattern based on human and functional relationships, creating an arrangement that is clear and easy to follow. All appointment, reception, and administrative activities take place in a central core with v-shaped hallways of exam rooms and offices extending out from the core. The building was conceived in close collaboration with doctors and other staff, which contributed greatly to its success. Also notes how well it fits into its surroundings. Concludes: "Of course, the Mayo has had the demand that has required it to develop increasingly efficient methods for helping people. That it is doing so without sacrificing the humanity, harmony, and handsomeness of the physical setting makes Baldwin all the more important a model-a model of form in attitude, and in architecture." (p. 117).

Miller, Ross. “ Chicago Architecture After Mies.” Critical Inquiry 6, no. 2 (Winter 1979): 271-89.

Casts a critical eye on Chicago architects Bertrand Goldberg, Netsch, Harry Weese, and other "post-Miesians" in light of how they challenged Mies van der Rohe’s revolutionary steel frame and glass curtain designs, which dominated postwar Chicago architecture. Miller contends that the innovation of the first and second generation of Mies’ successors lies in their unique design process, in contrast to the systematic, anonymous architecture of Mies’ International Style. Miller praises Netsch’s early work, especially the U.S. Air Force Academy Chapel, for its unorthodox design based on multifarious geometries. Miller goes on to criticize Netsch’s Field Theory for being programmatic, overly complex, and academic à la Mies. Designs of UIC's Circle Campus and the east addition to the Art Institute of Chicago are thought to "work better in plan than in execution." (p. 280). The second half of the article considers the work of the Chicago Seven architects.

Date last modified:March 12, 2007

Photographs courtesy Northwestern University Archives