Since its construction begam in the 1950s, the University of Chicago Law School has attracted the attention of major public figures. In 1958, Chief Justice Earl Warren laid the cornerstone of the new Law School facilities, and just one year later, Vice President Richard Nixon dedicated the buildings at their completion.
Cutting-Edge Design
The Eero Saarinen complex has been lauded as a crowning achievement of modern architecture. The building's long, low classroom and administrative wings are in keeping with the Modernist interest in horizontality and interlocking space and Saarinen used the same Indiana limestone as in their Gothic brethren. The nearby fountain and plantings, by landscape architect Dan Kiley, softened the lines without upsetting the Mondrianesque order.
Award-Winning Renovation
A 2008 renovation and rehabilitation project to restore the structures to their former glory while also repurposing them for contemporary needs. The D’Angelo Law Library expanded individual and group study space, as well as increased the browsability of the stacks. The Law Library tower and the reflecting pool also received successful makeovers, so successful that the D’Angelo Law Library was awarded the 2008 Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Preservation Award for Rehabilitation.