I visited IIT on Wednesday and snapped photos of the Rem Koolhaas-designed McCormick Tribune Campus Center. It’s an island of Kool exuberance in a somnolescent sea of sober, rigid Miesian boxes.

Of the many photos I’d seen (especially those in Metropolis Magazine this month), none made any sense as a collection, nor showed students actually using the building. Sure enough, though, the photos don’t “connect” because the building doesn’t; the many sharp corners hide plenty of things. The distinct lack of furnishings (partially because the building was wildly over budget) gives it an empty feel, even if it’s well used. The urban design is so-so: although the urban context is hardly inspiring, the building does only a bit better at engaging the sidewalk. For a long stretch along State, the building’s sunken a good eight feet; the south entrance is set back behind a lawn (it was reportedly cut short to save funds); and hallways line many outside walls, which provide neither interesting views from the outside nor light for the building interior.

Yes, you can buy Mies t-shirts — made by American Apparel, no less.

While I was on the South Side, I picked up David Harvey’s Paris, Capital of Modernity at the Seminary. It’s almost too pretty to leave on the bookshelf; it would deserve a temporary spot on the coffee table — if only I didn’t have three dozen other books vying for a spot there already.