Since it was established in 1867, the Urbana-Champaign campus has grown to include more than 250 buildings spread over nearly 1,500 acres representing a range of architectural styles and typologies.

Early campus buildings include work by firms such as McKim, Mead, and White alongside work by Nathan C. Ricker and his students, reflecting 19th century eclecticism. Charles Platt’s buildings and campus plan of 1926 introduced a more formal design vocabulary that has influenced most subsequent campus development. The Assembly Hall and Krannert Center, both by alumnus Max Abramovitz, are mid-century modernist icons that decidedly break with the historicism of Platt’s era. Frustration with less successful modernist buildings, however, led to design guidelines based on Platt’s vision in the 1980s.

Two buildings by alumnus Ralph Johnson (The Chemical and Life Sciences Building, 1991 and Temple Hoyne Buell Hall, 1994) successfully work with the guidelines to create buildings that are both sensitive to the historic fabric and decidedly contemporary. Subsequent buildings, including the Irwin Sports Practice Facility (2001) and Siebel Center for Computer Science (2004) have followed in this strategy. More daring design can be found in smaller projects, including the Financial Aid Building (2002) by alumna Carol Ross Barney.

Recently, sustainability has become a central issue in campus buildings. The new College of Business building, currently being designed by the firm of alumnus Cesar Pelli, promises to lead the way, with an anticipated platinum LEED rating.