Introduction: Purpose of Study

The Columbia 2010 document is a strategic vision that outlines Columbia College Chicago’s aspiration “to be the best student-centered arts and media college in the world.” This physical Master Plan focuses on those Columbia 2010 goals that can be achieved through improvements to Columbia’s physical environment, ultimately resulting in a “coherent, student-centered campus” with a “distinct sense of place.” The plan focuses on student services, academic spaces, and on the creative community of Columbia College Chicago’s physical campus as a whole.

 

The Strategic Plan of Columbia College Chicago

 

In 2004, Columbia College Chicago completed Columbia 2010, the strategic plan for the growth and development of the College. In it, the Vision 2010 Committee set goals for the College that focus on “rigorous student learning outcomes, instructional excellence, service to students and an engaged, diverse campus community with the purpose of being a student-centered college providing the best arts and media education in the world.” This Master Plan proposes changes to the physical environment of Columbia College Chicago that support realizing the strategic goals of Columbia 2010.

 

“Columbia 2010 sets an exciting new direction for Columbia College Chicago that is anchored in the College’s historic mission and values. It sets the stage for Columbia to achieve national and international recognition for excellence in arts and media practice, as well as excellence in arts and media education in the context of liberal arts. The plan also reinvigorates the principles of Columbia’s democratic mission for the new century. To realize these aims, Columbia 2010 defines institutional objectives, establishes a framework by which those objectives will be achieved and posits a set of measurable criteria by which to evaluate success.”


from the Columbia 2010 Executive Summary

 

Columbia 2010 Campus Environment Goals

  1. Develop a coherent campus layout with a focal axis on Wabash Avenue.
  2. Create a distinct sense of place with a recognizable street presence.
  3. Develop flexible and adaptable facilities.
  4. Work with the City and South Loop community to develop a Wabash Avenue arts/education corridor.
  5. Acquire expansion space on and around Wabash Avenue.
  6. Add space primarily through adaptive reuse; use new construction selectively.
  7. Develop a campus life that enriches learning and builds strong bonds to the college community.
  8. Develop facilities that support a campus life that enriches learning through increased inter-disciplinary collaboration.

These goals are woven throughout this Master Plan as guidelines for the achievement of the Columbia 2010 vision.

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Student Demographics

Orientation Map

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Columbia Building Inventory

Orientation Map

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Current Real Estate Holdings

Orientation Map

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Current Campus Environment

Columbia College Chicago is located in twelve academic buildings that stretch from Congress Parkway to 14th Street in the South Loop. Most buildings are commercial loft construction and many were built prior to 1930. Five of Columbia’s buildings are within Chicago Landmark Districts and one is an individually designated Chicago Landmark. For more information on the history of Columbia’s buildings, please see the Appendix. Columbia’s facilities, primarily owned by the College with some leased, have been acquired over time. The College’s traditional scarcity of resources resulted in buildings being purchased in response to an immediate need for space. This organic growth, while resolving immediate space shortages, has resulted in a campus without an overall organizational strategy.


The classic American university campus bears no resemblance to the roots of the modern university which began in Italy, France and England during the Middle Ages. The University of Paris (now known as the Sorbonne) was founded in 1150 A.D. Because it as
a guild of teachers who taught wherever space was available, the university was not a place but a collection of individuals bound together as a universitas or corporation. There was no campus. Even today the buildings of the Sorbonne are embedded in the city of Paris. The student experience was and is remarkably diverse, with the city serving as an important part of the educational experience.

 

 

Like the Sorbonne, Columbia College Chicago is also rooted in the city. It has had a growing presence in Chicago’s historic South Loop neighborhood since the mid-1970s. The South Loop’s distinct urban quality is well suited to the Columbia College Chicago community. Over the past ten years, the South Loop has undergone significant change. New residential construction and commercial redevelopment have energized the neighborhood street life and increased the market value of neighborhood properties. As the neighborhood evolves, Columbia remains a driving force behind the revitalization of the South Loop.

 

Columbia 2010 expressed the desire to “create a coherent, student-centered campus.” To achieve this goal, the Master Plan team recommends establishing a clearly understandable physical campus organization and a strong identity in the neighborhood and city.

 

 

By comparing Columbia’s campus with those of other Chicago-area institutions, the Master Plan team learned that Columbia is no more spread-out than other area institutions and, in many cases, has a greater student population density.

 

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