Walter Netsch Bibliography

Secondary Sources

1980s

1980

Books

Bach, Ira J., ed. Chicago’s Famous Buildings: A Photographic Guide to the City’s Architectural Landmarks and Other Notable Buildings. Contributions by Carl Wocondit and Hugh Dalziel Duncan. 3rd ed., rev. and enlg. With the assistance of Roy Forrey. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 1980. 267 p. il.

Includes short entries on the Inland Steel Building (p. 74-75), the University of Illinois at Chicago campus (p. 162-63), the Illinois Institute of Technology campus (p. 182-83), the University of Chicago campus (p. 207-10), and the Northwestern University campus (p. 232-34). None of the entries mention Netsch’s involvement with the projects. Illustrations feature in the entries for the Inland Steel Building, multiple buildings on the University of Illinois, Chicago campus, the Joseph Regenstein Library, Northwestern's Lindheimer Astronomical Research Center, and the Northwestern University Library.

Tigerman, Stanley. Late Entries to the Chicago Tribune Tower Competition. New York: Rizzoli, 1980. 2 vols. (189 p., 113 p.) il.

Catalogue documents a traveling exhibition organized by Stuart E. Cohen, Rhona Hoffman, and Tigerman which originated at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago (May 30 - July 19, 1980). The exhibition revisited the 1922 Tribune Tower competition, giving select contemporary architects and artists an opportunity to design the famous Chicago landmark. Seventy architects participated. Netsch contributed an elegant, futuristic, computer-aided design for a tower based on Field Theory (II, p. 54, with 1 plan). The exhibition traveled to the La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art (September 12 - October 12, 1980), the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis (April 12 - May 31, 1981), Yale University Art Gallery (September 8 - October 20, 1981), Forth Worth Art Center (November 7 - December 13, 1981), and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (January 7 - March 7, 1982).

Articles

Schmertz, Mildred F. “New Museum by Walter Netsch of SOM Given Order by his Field Theory.”Architectural Record 167, no. 1 (January 1980): 111-20. 16 il. 12 plans and diagrams.

Discusses Netsch’s 1978 Miami University Art Museum in Oxford, Ohio, which was designed according to Field Theory. The building contains a number of different-sized galleries, all proportionate to one another and arranged in an unfolding sequence suited to exhibiting various types of art. The article also presents Field Theory in general, tracing its development and including illustrations of the Behavioral Science Center at the Chicago Circle Campus, the Basic Sciences Building at the University of Iowa, and Wells College Library in Aurora, New York. Schmertz argues that Netsch’s theory is as significant as other preeminent modernist theories, including Fuller’s geodesic dome and Le Corbusier’s Modulor: "The Field Theory is as important as Corbu's Modulor or Bucky's dome. Netsch makes beautiful buildings with it." (p. 111) Provides several reasons why Field Theory is neither widely known nor practiced. Color photos show Miami University Art Museum's exteriors and interiors, as well as its site.

Cohen, Stuart. "Late Entries." Progressive Architecture 61, no. 6 (June 1980): 94-99. 23 il.

The traveling exhibition, Late Entries to the 1922 Tribune Tower Competition (1980-82), is discussed in this article along with images of some of the entries and a brief summation of the drawings. "Walter Netsch's sinuous glass tower" is featured on p. 96.

“Miami University Art Museum.” Space Design 8, no. 191 (August 1980): 3-22. 25 il. 18 plans. Text in Japanese and English.

Begins with five evocative full-page photographs of the Museum's exterior, taken at different times of the day and from different angles. Explains the Museum's conceptual criteria, design solutions, interior and exterior space, the importance of its placement on the site, gallery spaces, classrooms, and other features. Notes the building's sensitivity to light and atmosphere, as well as its multi-purpose flexibility in rearranging space. Other photos include more exterior shots, as well as gallery and auditorium interiors. Floor plans, elevations, and Field Theory designs are also included. Smaller diagrams show some of Netsch's other buildings, such as the U.S.A.F.A. Cadet Chapel, Northwestern University Library, Wells College Library, UIC Circle Campus, and Sophia University Library in Tokyo.

Dreyfuss, John. "1922 Tribune Tower: Late Entries in an Architecture Contest." Los Angeles Times (September 24, 1980): Arts, 1, 9. 5 il.

Review of the Late Entries to the Chicago Tribune Tower Competition exhibition, on display at the La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art, September 12 to October 12, 1980. Illustrates Walter Netsch's entry (called "Netschurally" in the caption) and comments:"For a combination of delicacy, strength and beauty, there is no beating Chicago architect Walter Netsch's computer-drawn entry. Its fine blue lines on a silver nylon field depict an abstract structure that appears light enough to float on mist, resilient enough to defy the most violent storm."

1981

Books

Smith, G. E. Kidder. The Architecture of the United States, vol. 2, The South and Midwest. In association with The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Garden City, NY: Anchor Press/Doubleday, 1981. 3 vols. (755 p. 749 p., 817 p.)

State-by-state compendium of noteworthy architecture contains an entry on the University of Illinois, Chicago campus. Smith clearly outlines the plan of the campus and the various theories that Walter Netsch employed in the layout of the buildings. Smith discusses both the strengths and weaknesses of the architecture, attributing many of the weaknesses to “broad changes” in the role of the campus since its conception. The entry includes a brief discussion of individual buildings such as the central core of lecture halls, library and student union, the Science and Engineering Laboratories, University Hall, the Art and Architecture Building, and the Behavioral Sciences Building. (II, p. 184-88, 2 il.)

Stoller, Ezra. Ezra Stoller: Photographs of Architecture, 1939-1980. NY: Max Protech Gallery, 1981. 20 p. il.

Catalogue to an exhibition of architectural photographs by Ezra Stoller (1915-2004), a favorite photographer of SOM projects. Stoller was born in Chicago and studied architecture at New York University. During his long career, he worked closely with leading architects. Many of his photographs are collected in anthologies and monographs. Of Stoller, Netsch recalls:

Of course, there was Ezra Stoller, who was Gordon's [Bunshaft] favorite. They were the sort of leaders in the field. Occasionally, I would get a photograph. Someone was going to photograph my building and would send me one. That happened at Northwestern, and I have a photograph of one of my buildings that I really like. He never was able to do any more because he did it with a red filter, and it was such a separate kind of thing that it didn't say as much about the building as it said about photography. So you had to be careful that people wouldn't try to entice you. I met a lot of photographers, and they would try, but we really would just rather fall back on people we knew. Ezra was especially good on models. You could work with Ezra Stoller. He would say, "Make some clouds for me," or "Do a backdrop." We would do it, and we would shift it around, and he could make it look real. (Walter Netsch, "Oral History", 1995, p. 413)

Articles

"Architect Netsch Sculpts New Career." Chicago Magazine (April 1981): 18. 1 il.

References Netsch's art show at the Zolla/Lieberman Gallery in Chicago (April 3 - May 5, 1981). Netsch explains his passion for art, both as a collector and as a designer. Mentions his career at SOM and the Miami University Art Museum.

Stephens, Suzanne. "SOM at Midlife." Progressive Architecture 62, no. 5 (May 1981): 139-49. 58 ils. 6 plans.

History of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill that concentrates on the firm's organization, management practices, growth, major commissions, original partners and succeeding generations of partners. Mentions Netsch on p. 138-39, and highlights several of his buildings, including the U.S.A.F.A. Cadet Chapel (p. 139) and Inland Steel (p. 141). The second half of the article is a photographic "SOM Portfolio" (p. 142-49) of current projects.

Comerio, Mary C. "Pruitt Igoe and Other Stories." JAE 34, no. 4 (Summer 1981): 26-31. 3 il.

Examines St. Louis's infamous Pruitt-Igoe public housing project, which housed 13,000 people in 33 buildings of 11 stories each when it opened in 1955. Traces the projects' problems and failures against the backdrop of St. Louis's inner city decline in the 1960s. Pruitt-Igoe was demolished in 1972. Notes, "a blue ribbon task force of architects and urban planners worked through 1972 on design schemes to save the project." (p. 27) Netsch's SOM design team formed part of that effort in the early 1970s. Maintains that while Pruitt-Igoe's failure was not caused by modern architecture, Comerio faults the complex's design on many points, including architects and urban planners' failure to understand underlying community and social forces. JAE was published by the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture from 1975-83.

Perkins, Bradford. "Preserving Our Landmarks of the Modern Movement." Architectural Record 169, no. 7 (July 1981): 108-09. 7 plans.

Objects to proposed expansion plans for the U.S. Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel, which included a western addition. States,

The design of the entire Air Force Academy-and the chapel, in particular-is based on a very strong geometry. To break the chapel's podium to introduce another geometry at the very center of this complex is a case of architectural bad manners. A much more sensitive addition was that proposed by Netsch. This addition does not make the mistake of the other podium leaving the building's original concept unscathed. Luckily, this project has received a reprieve since the Air Force has deferred the addition. This should give the profession time to focus on it and the growing number of other modern landmarks jeopardized by a lack of concern for this large, essential part of our architectural heritage. (p. 109)

Uses the example of the Cadet Chapel as indicative of other modernist buildings from the 1950s in need of protection and preservation.

1982

Articles

Miller, Nory. "Staying on Top, or Just Staying Alive?" Chicago (May 1982): 156-57. 4 il.

Subtitled, "A critic's view of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill," this article in the popular press criticizes what the author perceives as uneven qualities of design and lack of artistic sensitivities in recent high-rise commissions. Blames SOM's diminishing reputation on its large corporate structure and slick marketing machine that spawns "a patchwork of shards from scavenged imaginations." (p. 157). Continues, "Handsome designs are still emerging from the firm, but for the first time oafish clunkers are not the aberration." Wistfully recalls SOM's glory days in the 1950s and 1960s and it founders' vision. Mentions "the controversial but widely published institutional work of Walter Netsch." (p. 156)

Rottenberg, Dan. "SOM: The Big, The Bad, and the Beautiful." Chicago (May 1982): 150-55, 196-202. 13 ils.

Attributes SOM's success to its ability to form large, cohesive design teams that include members with a multitude of disciplinary knowledge. SOM's success is also indebted to their use of computer technology. Netsch is quoted in the article in regards to the firm's recent inability to win design awards: "The firm's problem, according to another retired partner, Walter Netsch, is that 'success breeds patterns that get replicated.' SOM's performance in design competition would seem to bear him out..." (p. 155, photo p. 154). Includes a photo of the Inland Steel Building.

Tracey, Elizabeth. “Artless Architecture: NU has Concrete Examples.” The Daily Northwestern (May 28, 1982): 5. 1 il.

One-page article in Northwestern's student newspaper that laments the lack of cohesive campus architecture. History of campus buildings from the early 1900s is presented, with comments by Northwestern Art History professors Carl Condit and Oland Rand, who both criticize the lack of campus planning, and resultant hodgepodge of building styles. Maintains that while Northwestern has hired some of the most prestigious architecture firms in the country, the firms did their best works elsewhere. Critiques Netsch's Lakefill plan of the early 1960s and is particularly negative about Edward Dart's campus buildings (Norris Center, Andersen and Leverone Halls). Quotes Hans Friedman, an architect with A.M. Kinney Associates, as complaining, "The sad part is that the university could be a real architectural resource for Evanston. It's not. It's a cultural resource, but people don't come to Northwestern to look at the architecture." Professor David Van Zanten (Art History) believes that lack of communication between the University and outside architects has contributed to mediocre, even ugly buildings. Includes a photo of Northwestern University Library and the Charles Deering Library.

Giovannini, Joseph. "Architecture of Information." UCLA Architecture and Planning 3 (Winter 1982): 2-7. 5 il. 1 plan.

Article on the use of computer technology in architectural designs that opens with Netsch's computer-generated drawing for Late Entries to the Chicago Tribune Tower Competition exhibition (1980). States:

There was, however, one drawing, by Walter Netsch-formerly of the Chicago office of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill-that was both different and unsettling. No one knew quite what to make of it; the drawing did not share the assumptions implicit in the others. It was a computer drawing of a new Tribune Tower drawn by SOM computer PDP 1170, and it depicted a vertical, spider-web building spun from logic foreign to the other hand-drawn buildings. The drawing had a cool, calculated look to it, unlike the other sensitively rendered entries, yet Netsch's was no less sensitive in its way: it had a delicacy and a rhythmic regularity, and it looked like a subtle mathematical construct that could be built.

The entry was disquieting because no one really wanted to be nettled by computers in a show that was cast as art. Many of the drawings were done in traditional, frequently Beaux Arts, materials - inks, colored pencil, charcoal, washes. But the Netsch drawings did not really fade, either in the show, or in one's memory. There was a strength, based not only in the building depicted, but also in its powerful computer origins. Was the computer the new future? The computer would certainly disturb the direction that new architecture, as seen in the Chicago show, was taking.

1983

Books

Bush-Brown, Albert. Skidmore, Owings & Merrill: Architecture and Urbanism, 1973-1983. NY: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1983. 393 p. il. In English and German.

Heavily illustrated overview of a decade of SOM commissions. Features the reorganization and expansion of the Art Institute of Chicago (p. 174-77, 2 il., 1 plan), including a magnificent full-color double spread of the museum's exterior.

Miami University (Oxford, Ohio); Snite Museum of Art. Living with Art, Two: The Collection of Walter and Dawn Clark Netsch. Oxford, OH: Miami University Art Museum, 1983. 138 p. 174 il.

The second presentation of the Netschs’ art collection at a university art museum, this exhibition took its title from the first exhibition at the University of Iowa in 1971. This exhibition contained more art, displaying almost the entire collection from the couple's Chicago home. Fittingly, the art moved from one Netsch building to another for the exhibition-Netsch designed both his home and the Miami University Art Museum. There are 167 entries (most with illustrations) along with exhibition views and short essays by Netsch and Sterling Cook, the show’s curator. A portion of the collection on display was donated to the Miami University Art Museum. The exhibition was on view at Miami University from September 10-December 16, 1983, and at the Snite Museum of Art, University of Notre Dame, from January 22-March 25, 1984.

1984

Articles

Berkovich, Gary. "Scaling the Hong Kong Peak." Inland Architect 28, no. 6 (November-December 1984): 28-31. 8 il. 3 plans.

Examines and critiques entries to the international competition for the Peak Residential Club in Hong Kong, seven of which were exhibited at Chicago's ArchiCenter in 1983. Of 539 competitors, eight came from Chicago (none were winners). First prize went to a controversial project design by an English team lead by architect Zaha Hadid. Although Chicago entries were not selected, Berkovich credits them with innovative theoretical designs that tested new ideas. Seven Chicago designers are published including a multi-scaled, geometric, and a wildly creative "leaping playful dragon fish" interactive design by the "Netsch Team"-Walter Netsch, Christopher Goode, Scott Coates, George Madras, Tess Shire; model by Anthony Berent and Walter Netsch. (p. 30).

1985

Books

Glibota, Ante and Frédéric Edelmann. Chicago, 150 ans d'architecture, 1833-1983/150 Years of Chicago Architecture, 1833-1983. Paris: Paris Art Center, Musée-Galerie de la SEITA, and l'Institut Francais d'Architecture, 1985. 383 p. il. (in French and English)

This catalogue records the exhibition of prominent Chicago architecture shown at various locations between October 5, 1983, and January 14, 1984. It includes photographs of the Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel, (p. 109), the University of Illinois, Chicago (p. 176-77), Northwestern University Library, (p. 196-97), Miami University Art Museum, (p. 210-11), and the Netschs' home (p. 293). A separate section on Walter Netsch (p. 286-93) includes a biography, a definition of Field Theory by Netsch, a tribute and appreciation of his work by Gilles Plazy, a list of major projects (p. 289), supplemented by 26 illustration, plans, and designs. For other references to Netsch, see p. 28, 184, 226, 252, and 261. Reviews: P. Hill, Crain's Chicago Business (Oct. 3, 1983); J. Audouin, Inland Architect 27, no. 6 (November/December 1983): 2.

Museum of Science and Industry. A Guide to 150 Years of Chicago Architecture. Prepared by Robert Bruegmann, Sabra Clark, Paul Florian, Douglas Stoker, and Cynthia Weese. Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 1985. 151 p.

In 1985, the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago presented an updated version of the comprehensive Paris exhibition 150 Years of Chicago Architecture, 1833-1983, curated by Ante Glibota. This publication is both an overview of and visitor guide to the new exhibition. Albert Bush-Brown authored the section on Netsch (p. 106-15), which includes numerous photographs of major projects and a list of buildings designed by Netsch. Bush-Brown reviews Netsch's life, career, and accomplishments, calling him "a sensitive, thoughtful man whose brilliant intellect seeks meaning and order." (p. 106) Concludes:

Over a professional lifetime of hard, intensive work against deadlines, budgets and conventions, Netsch had gained his own aesthetic development within a great architectural firm. It will ever be questioned whether the achievement might have arrived without the resources and opportunities of SOM, but it is equally to be debated whether, as various honors and awards attest, it may well have been among SOM's finest accomplishments. He had won international acclaim for his educational and institutional designs and changed the images of a university as it had not been changed since the nineteenth century, and he was revered as a teacher and colleague and friend to those who were intent upon advancing the nation's best environmental and social interests. (p. 115)

Stanley Tigerman contributed an essay called "Goldberg, Netsch and Weese: In Exile at Home," in which he analyzes how the "hyper-individualism" of the three influenced the "Chicago spirit" in architecture. (p. 126-27) See also pages 68-70 (Inland Steel Building).

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. Cadet Area Master Plan: Executive Summary. United States Air Force Base Comprehensive Plan. Colorado Springs: USAFA, June 1985. 39 p. il. plans.

Updated planning document for buildings and restoration projects in the cadet area.

Articles

Wolff, Theodore. "Miami University's Art Museum Is Itself a Handsome Work of Art." Christian Science Monitor (April 29, 1985): 27. 1 il.

Highly positive article about Miami University's new Art Museum (1978). Observes that the changing geometric scale of the galleries in the "starkly modern" Miami University Art Museum is appropriate for showcasing the varied works of art in the permanent collection. Concludes, "Viewing this museum and its exhibits was a real pleasure. The building itself, its suitability to the display of a very wide variety of art, and its physical location add up to a unique viewing experience."

Pastier, John. “A Creature of its Storied City.” Architecture 74, no. 8 (August 1985): 46-53. 1 il. 21 plans and diagrams.

Discusses the strengths and weaknesses of the School of Architecture at the University of Illinois, Chicago. According to the author, some of the School's strengths are its location within the architectural landscape of Chicago and its professional faculty members, many of whom are prominent as architects. The program’s weaknesses include a lack of resources and the Art and Architecture building, where the program is based. Claims that Netsch’s geometric Field Theory design is not conducive to the School’s need for studio and instructional spaces. Calls Netsch"one of SOM's brightest talents." (p. 48)

Malcolm, Andrew H. "Chicago School to Dismantle its New Canopy as Un-Mies-Like." New York Times (September 11, 1985): 18A.

Concerns rededication of the renovated library at the Illinois Institute of Technology (a building designed by Walter Netsch in 1962) and the dismantling of a 32-by-12-foot entrance canopy of beams suspended from the roof by red cables. The canopy was considered inappropriate and disrespectful to the memory of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, whose somber style dominates the 120-acre campus. The canopy was installed during the summer of 1985.

Hill, Timothy W. “The End of the Rainbow.” Inland Architect 29, no. 6 (November-December 1985): 10, 13. 1 il.

Examines the controversy surrounding the brightly-colored canopy that was added to the entrance of Netsch’s 1962 library at the Illinois Institute of Technology, a building of strong Miesian influence in keeping with the design of the campus as a whole. Robert Nevel, of Chicago-based Mekus/Johnson Inc., designed and installed the canopy as a means to provide shelter for the entrance, to establish a focal point, and to integrate the building with the plaza in front of it. However, its bright colors, guide wires, and perforated steel elements were not appropriate for the Miesian design of the building, and the canopy was soon removed. Concludes:

Netsch , who retired five years ago, was totally unaware of the canopy controversy until he read about it and the rest of the library upgrading in his morning edition of The New York Times. Since then he has been contacted repeatedly by the press, and has steadfastly reaffirmed that the Mies vocabulary of the ITT campus must not be altered or abridged for the sake of renovation. When asked if the rainbow-colored canopy would have been acceptable had it been painted black, he replied that the canopy design, with guide wires and perforated steel members, was in an entirely different vernacular from Mies and therefore inappropriate for the library and unacceptable for the ITT campus.

"Postmodernists," Netsch said, "should preach contextualism and actually do it."

Photo shows the multi-colored canopy at the library's entrance.

Patterson, James R. "The Chapel That Nearly Wasn't." Air Force Magazine (December 1985): 90-92. 1 il.

Recounts the saga of the U.S. Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel, beginning with President Dwight D. Eisenhower's signing of the bill to authorize the Academy on April 1, 1954. Netsch's first design met with considerable ridicule and was not approved. His second concept, unveiled on March 12, 1957, was controversial but eventually approved. Dedication took place on September 22, 1963. Describes the Chapel, its organ, and gradual public acceptance. Quotes Netsch: "I received a lot of hate mail in those days. I was even called a Communist. ... [however] in recent years my heart has been warmed by the many fine letters from parents of cadets who have told me of having been spiritually uplifted in visiting the chapel." (p. 92)

1986

Articles

Wersich, Carol. "A Building Ahead of its Time ..." Evansville Press (March 12, 1986): 21. 4 il.

Feature on the John Wesley Powell National Center of the U.S. Geological Survey building complex, located in Reston, Virginia. The complex, which covers 45 acres, includes a seven-story, one million square-foot center with triangular wings designed by Walter Netsch and completed in 1974. Sixty picturesque acres of woods surround the center. In the article, Netsch discusses the design concept and regrets not using more color in the predominantly glass and precast concrete building. The facility houses 2,500 employees. Quotes William A. Schmidt, special assistant for facilities: "Visitors like the design very much. I receive many more favorable comments from them than from the occupants."

["Walter Netsch: Park District Board and Commissioner"]. 1986-89.

Walter Netsch was a Commissioner of the Chicago Park District from June 19, 1986 to December 19, 1989. He served as President of the Board from June 16, 1986 to May 5, 1987. Netsch's often turbulent tenure with the Chicago Park District is chronicled in numerous local newspapers. Among others, see articles in the Chicago Sun-Times (May 15, 1986; May 31, 1986; June 27, 1989; December 19, 1989) and in the Chicago Tribune (July 6, 1986; August 29, 1986; March 6, 1987; June 27, 1989; December 19, 1989; December 21, 1989).

Cross, Robert. "A Man Who Dreams of Classic Parks: But Architect Walter Netsch Suddenly Finds Himself Recast as a Pivotal Political Player." Chicago Tribune (July 6, 1986). 2 il.

Profile of Netsch written shortly after he became the President of the Chicago Park District Board of Commissioners, appointed by Mayor Harold Washington. Includes personal details about Netsch's childhood dream of being an artist, how he met Dawn Clark, and recent health problems, as well as an assessment of his plans for the Park District. Netsch wanted to restore Chicago's "classic" parks to their late-19th-century designs in order to revitalize the communities in which they are located. He opposed the commercialization of public park areas, having previously served on a panel that recommended against making Navy Pier a commercial entertainment complex. Reprinted in Friends of the Park Newsletter 1, no. 17 (Fall 1986): 1-4.

"Army Engineers Fear for Chicago Shore Drive." New York Times (December 24, 1986): A9.

Short piece about how the rapid rise of Lake Michigan threatens Lake Shore Drive. Quotes Netsch (then Park District president) about the high cost of replacing the sea wall that runs along Lake Shore Drive.

Unpublished Material

Perkins, Lawrence Bradford. Interview by Betty J. Blum. "Oral History of Lawrence Bradford Perkins." Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1986. 174 p.

"Compiled under the auspices of the Chicago Architects Oral History Project, The Ernest R. Graham Study Center for Architectural Drawings, Department of Architecture, The Art Institute of Chicago." This transcript, which includes references to the U.S. Air Force Academy (p. 75) and Netsch and SOM (p. 84), records interviews conducted on November 8-10, and 17, 1985.

Yost, L. Morgan. Interview by Betty J. Blum. "Oral History of L. Morgan Yost, F.A.I.A." Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1986. 128 p.

"Compiled under the auspices of the Chicago Architects Oral History Project, The Ernest R. Graham Study Center for Architectural Drawings, Department of Architecture, The Art Institute of Chicago." L. Morgan Yost (1908-1992) employed Netsch in his small Kenilworth office from April 1946 to November 1947. This transcript, which includes references to Netsch’s involvement in drawing the cabinetwork for the Deno house in Highland Park, Illinois (p. 72-73), Netsch’s involvement with the Western Homes project in 1946 and the working methods of the office (p. 80-82), and Yost’s appraisal of Netsch (p. 112-113), records interviews conducted May 13-15, 1985.

1987

Articles

Hedlund, Nevin. “Netsch Takes on the Parks.” Inland Architect 31, no. 1 (January-February 1987): 79-85. 1 il.

Drawing from Walter Netsch’s November 1986 President’s Report on Park District Reorganization Phase I, this article outlines Netsch’s plans for his five-year term as president of the Chicago Park District. Focuses on the crux of Netsch’s plan: reorganization of the Park District’s human resources and the implementation of accountability measures. Specific projects such as the Garfield Park revitalization, the relocation of Lake Shore Drive, and the reaction of the parks to rising water levels in Lake Michigan are discussed. Includes a small photo of Walter Netsch at a board meeting.

Owen, David. "Writs Fly Round Chicago Architects." Financial Times (London) (June 26, 1987): 4.

In this article about Illinois Attorney General Neil Hartigan suing Murphy Jahn Associates over problems with the State of Illinois building, Netsch comments, "In Chicago, we take our architecture seriously," and, "the architectural profession is probably as hostile to one another behind backs as any group I am aware of."

Unpublished Material

Johnson, Sven. ["Notes of a lecture on the Miami University Art Museum and Walter Netsch's Field Theory, 1989."] 16 p. 7 il. 16 plans and diagrams.

Notes of a lecture delivered April 10, 1989 at the University of Miami (Oxford, Ohio). Discusses selection of Netsch for the Art Museum and comments on the museum's design. Includes an explanation of Field Theory (p. 2-5), illustrated by photos, floor plans and diagrams of Field Theory buildings at the University of Iowa, Wells College, and Miami University. Includes several diagrams that help explain Field Theory.

1988

Books

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. Community Center Master Plan. United States Air Force Academy Base Comprehensive Plan. Colorado Springs: USAFA, August 1988. 70 p. il. plans.

Updated planning document for the Community Center, located in the Core Cadet Area.

Articles

"Icons of Modernism or Machine-Age Dinosaurs?" Architectural Record (June 1989): 142-47. 4 il. 9 plans and diagrams.

Surveys landmark early works of "American Modernism," to determine how they have fared in intervening years. Covers the Lever House, Philadelphia Savings and Society Building, and Crown Zellerbach's corporate headquarters in San Francisco. Netsch prepared preliminary designs for Crown Zellerbach, a building completed in 1959 by Charles Bassett. Concludes, "Though the structures chosen for this article are hardly representative, they do suggest that thoughtful design-even using untried and sometimes risky techniques-can produce buildings of lasting aesthetic and functional value." (p. 147)

Bruegmann, Robert. “The Art Institute Expands: Challenges of Mid-Century.” Museum Studies 14, no. 1 (1998): 56-81. 23 il. 15 plans and diagrams.

UIC art professor and architectural historian charts the Art Institute of Chicago's growth and construction projects in the twentieth century. Describes legal limitations against expansion to the north and south, and the Institute's precedent-setting eastward expansion with Gunsaulus Hall in 1916. Additions in the 1920s included the Hutchinson Wing and the McKinlock Court with adjacent galleries, as well as the Goodman Theatre auditorium and the School of the Art Institute. Examines in detail the competition of 1934 for major new construction. Seven famous architects submitted plans, which were reviewed by a committee headed by David Adler, Jr., and advised by a young Louis Skidmore. Reviews and critiques the various schemes, which are presented by drawings. Holabird and Root were declared the winners on July 18, 1934. Museum trustees intended to build the new complex over the next twenty or thirty years, at an estimated cost of $9 million. Although the Allerton Wing was added in 1937, the 1934 plan never materialized. Postwar building campaigns also faltered until the Ferguson and Morton Wings, and the McCormick Memorial Court, were added in the 1960s. Section III (pp. 74-80) highlights East Wing additions of the 1970s, which were designed by Walter Netsch. Bruegmann explores AIC's selection of SOM and Netsch's previous building designs. Plans for the first phase were announced in December, 1972, in a handsome booklet entitled, The Art Institute of Chicago: The Bold and the Prudent. Enumerates the many design challenges that Netsch faced, in particular the Illinois Central Railroad tracks and issues with the School of the Art Institute. Regarding the East Wing (now the Arthur Rubloff Building) and School additions, Bruegmann states: "Netsch went much further than any of his predecessors in creating a building that broke with the classical tradition. Resolutely modern in its avoidance of applied ornament or specific historical details, it was highly asymmetrical rather than axial and symmetrical; and because it was created as a 'Field Theory' building, it was filled with forty-five-degree diagonals rather than the strictly rectilinear lines of the old building." (p. 78) Discusses incorporation of salvaged elements from the Trading Room of the Chicago Stock Exchange Building (Adler and Sullivan, 1893). Construction was begun in May 1974 and finished in 1977. The new addition received praise from the press and won a national honor award from the American Institute of Architects. Comments on unresolved problems, mostly minor, and ends with observations about new building programs underway at many major museums in the United States.

1989

Books

Graham, Bruce. Bruce Graham of SOM. New York: Rizzoli, 1989. 166 p. il.

Overview of SOM architect Bruce Graham's projects, dating from 1956 to 1990. Each project is discussed by Graham, followed by photographs, floor plans, and elevations. Includes bibliographic references and a biographical note (p. 164). Entry for the Inland Steel Building (p. 16-19, with ten illustrations and floor plans) fails to mention Netsch's original concept design and model, which Graham completed. In Stanley Tigerman's introductory preface, "Who is Bruce Graham, Anyway?" (p. 8-9), Tigerman notes:

It was at that point in time that I came to know Bruce Graham, who had just been elevated to general partner status in the Chicago office of SOM. I had been hired as a junior designer by his counterpart, Walter A. Netsch, Jr., to work on the Air Force Academy at Colorado Springs, at the closing moments of construction for that immense military complex. The completion of that project coincided with SOM's move to new headquarters in the Inland Steel building, whose authorship both Netsch and Graham share (not without continuing debate as to the extent of each of their roles, I might add). Graham had just become partner-in-charge, and thus, my boss.

Slaton, Deborah, ed. Wild Onions: A Brief Guide to Landmarks and Lesser-Known Structures in Chicago’s Loop. Springfield, IL: Association for Preservation Technology International, 1989. 45 p. il.

Contains a short entry on the Inland Steel Building (p. 29), labeling it"an excellent example of 1950s creative architectural expression," plus one small black-and-white exterior photo.

Articles

Calloway, Earl. "Chicagoans Make Possible a Public Garden on Oak St." Chicago Defender (October 9, 1989): Entertainment, 18. 2 il.

Dedication ceremony of a 50,000 square-foot public park at the Oak Street Triangle, located on the corner of Lake Shore Drive and Oak Street. Park Commissioner Walter Netsch presided at the ceremony and expressed appreciation to the Paul and Gabrielly Rosenbaum Foundation for its support.

Date last modified: March 6, 2007

Photographs courtesy Northwestern University Archives