CTBUH & IIT Partnership

The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) and Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) have a distinguished history working together to ensure cities are places where people can thrive by creating humane, equitable, healthy urban centers through vertical urbanism. As an evolution of the relationship, IIT and CTBUH partnered to launch the Masters of Tall Buildings and Vertical Urbanism (M.TBVU), the world’s first multidisciplinary advanced degree focused specifically on the high rise. Through this program, IIT and CTBUH offer students an unprecedented opportunity to develop expertise in order to create positive, sustainable outcomes for future societies.

About IIT

IIT is a venerable, research-driven technological university located in Chicago. With more than 5,000 students (from nearly every country in the world), 1,000 faculty and staff, and a history of breakthrough developments, IIT has been an important center for education and research in the Midwest for more than 100 years. Located just south of Chicago’s architecturally rich downtown, its proximity and collaborative relationship with the nation’s third-largest city provides both inspiration and a fertile testing ground for research and practice, as students learn from, and work, in a global metropolis. To learn more, visit IIT.edu.

 

“There is no school of architecture with a stronger pedigree in tall buildings than IIT.

After all, skyscrapers were invented in Chicago, just blocks from our campus.”

Reed Kroloff, Dean, IIT College of Architecture

Read dean's statement

 

About CTBUH

Founded in 1969, CTBUH is the world’s leading non-profit organization for all those interested in the future of cities. It explores how increased urban density and vertical growth can support more sustainable and healthy cities, especially in the face of mass urbanization and the increasing effects of climate change worldwide. The relationship between policy, buildings, people, urban density, urban space, interior space, and infrastructure is key. The CTBUH member network embraces professionals working in all building industry sectors in almost all countries of the world.

 

 

“CTBUH’s two million+ members include virtually every world leader in the realm of tall buildings, from architects and engineers to developers, financiers, and public servants.”

Dr. Antony Wood, Director, M.TBVU, IIT; President, CTBUH

Read program director's statement

 

Dean’s Statement

With more than a million people projected to move into cities every week for the next 25 years—and in the face of major climate change—there is perhaps no greater challenge for humanity than creating humane, equitable, exciting, healthy urban centers. And there is no single building type more important to, or emblematic of, modern cities than skyscrapers. Moreover, there is no school of architecture with a stronger pedigree in tall buildings than Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT). After all, skyscrapers were invented in Chicago, just blocks from our campus. Many structural, formal, and organizational innovations in tall building design began as projects here at IIT. Our renowned faculty and advisory council enable our students to engage directly with the most influential experts in the field. Our fabrication center, one of the largest in the country, offers hands-on, at-scale project development. And you will study in Crown Hall, one of the most important works of modern architecture in the world (and the only purpose-built architecture school designed by Mies van der Rohe). This is a chance to develop expertise in a subject that is vital to our common future, and to do that in a setting that is unparalleled. Join us!

Program Director’s Statement

In order to ensure that cities are places where people can thrive, we must do more than simply increase density. This program looks to position its graduates at the nexus of how future cities develop. We need to integrate tall buildings more thoughtfully into both our urban and social fabrics. To accomplish this, we need to create a new cohort of professionals trained specifically to engage in the sustainable design, construction, operation, and management of tall buildings in the context of a comprehensive understanding of cities—a sustainable, vertical urbanism. Our new Masters program brings together the great strengths and diversity of Illinois Institute of Technology and the global Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat—an unparalleled combination of academic and professional resources. CTBUH has a unique, 50+ year history of research, documentation, and advocacy; the only organization of its type in the world. Our 2 million+ members include virtually every world leader in the realm of tall buildings, from architects and engineers to developers, financiers, and public servants. Together, we offer students an opportunity that is simply not available elsewhere. As a graduate of this program, you will enter the field with a unique set of knowledge, skills, and connections, prepared to create positive, sustainable outcomes for future societies.