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by Mary Jo Hoag, Class of 2007

Columbia College (CC) is Chicago architecture’s friend! 

Since the 1970s, CC purchased, rehabilitated, and re-purposed several historic South Loop buildings that would surely have otherwise been razed. What the college hadn’t done, until very recently, was design and construct a new building. That changed with the Jeanne Gang designed Media Production Center in 2010 and now with the new Gensler designed Student Center. The Student Center was completed at the very end of 2019 and almost immediately closed due to Covid. It reopened at the end of 2021.

The Student Center is located at Wabash and 8th in an area of the South Loop that needed some new life. The Center was the idea of CC President Dr. Kwan-Wu Kim. He believed the students of CC needed a place to gather, collaborate, produce, entertain, and relax in a centrally-located, easy-to-reach place. He noted that students were siloed into separate spaces and rarely had the opportunity to meet one another across different majors. Dr. Kim decided they needed a new building in the center of the South Loop where all students would have access. He was also laser-focused on designing a building that was sustainable and comfortable. His intention was that this Student Center would have no negative environmental impact on the future of his student’s lives. The building is LEED certified Gold.

CC held a design competition for the Student Center and eventually awarded the contract to Gensler. Brian Vitale was chosen as the lead architect. Vitale designed a remarkable five-story building. His idea was to take a traditional atrium building and turn it inside out; now the busy bee-hive activity of the students takes place around the perimeter. Natural light fills the spaces, lessening the need for artificial light and providing warmth.

Each floor of the Center has a name reflecting the uses the floor provides. The ground floor is “Gather” and its there that students can eat, make music, visit and talk. The furniture here is all hardy and movable so the students can decide where and how to gather.

The second floor is “Collaborate” where students make art and products in the Maker Space and where student life groups meet and work together. 

The third floor is “Practice and Career Prep,” housing the career center. Dr. Kim, a concert musician, wanted music practice rooms on this floor. There are five insulated rooms just for music practice, an unusual perk for any college. 

Floor four is “Wellness” that offers a complete gym facility. A novel part of this floor is the meditation room where students can go to pray, sit quietly, be contemplative, and quietly do what moves them. 

Floor five is “Celebrate,” and it contains a large event space. Until the Center was complete, CC had no space large enough to hold commencement and other important events. The event space can host a variety of music, dramatic, and entertainment events. CC also can rent this space out to others and raise revenue. 

The Center has no classrooms! The spaces are for all the students.

CCSC is home to several pieces of art by alumni. Some pieces can be seen from the street and add to the Wabash Street Corridor muralscape. Kwe-Ke-Wesh, an art piece by graffiti artist Steff Skills (Stephanie Garland), is a wonderful piece that spells out “Love Medicine” in Potawatomi. Skills believes that students can need some “love medicine” while away from home. Ice Berg, also known as Breaking Away, by Jeff Zimmerman can be seen through the south windows of the building. Zimmerman thinks that “breaking away” is what a young person does when leaving for college. These pieces add zest and beauty to the space, both inside and out.

CCSC is a great addition to the South Loop and to Wabash Street. It lights up the street at night adding more security and beauty to the area. Its a wonderful addition to CC and certainly enhances the lives of it almost 6,000 students. 

This article can’t begin to do justice to all the wonders of this building. The interior of this building is open only to students, faculty, and staff. But—you can take the CAC tour! Come out and see it! Bring friends! We’d love to see you!

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