The sleek glass forms of the State Street Village at the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT), designed by renowned architect Helmut Jahn, began a new era in the campus' development. Before that, no new residential buildings had opened there in four decades, since not long after Mies van der Rohe retired as IIT's dean of architecture.

Fittingly, Jahn's design of State Street Village seeks to create a building that reflects 40 years' of progress. Its six U-shaped dormitory buildings use steel, concrete, and glass to express a futuristic aesthetic. And inside, the architect placed an extraordinary focus on integrating a full range of modern amenities to create the "ultimate" student dorm. He not only ensured every suite got thin-slat aluminum blinds to control the light streaming through the glass façade, but also included luxuries like A/V lounges with plasma TVs and a "wired" laundry room that sends alerts via the web when wash/dry cycles are complete.

The use of technology within the State Street buildings is perhaps the most representative element of Jahn's design approach. Technology figures heavily in projects such as Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri, which features huge trusses that form the superstructure and define an intriguing shape with a column-free interior. A recent profile in Architecture Week by Michael J. Crosbie cites the architect for his adherence to the practice of "archi-neering."

This term, coined by Jahn and collaborator Werner Sobek, describes "the fusion of architecture and engineering." Some have criticized Jahn's work at times for its focus on technology, but Crosbie disagrees. Instead he says the architect uses "the technology of advanced materials and systems" is not "technology for technology's sake, nor an aesthetic of 'high-tech,' but materials, equipment, and methods of environmental control that seek to become invisible."

While they look to the future, Jahn's State Street designs also acknowledge the past, particularly S.R. Crown Hall, which was created for IIT by van der Rohe in the 1950s. From glass, rooftop plazas, and courtyards throughout the State Street complex, Jahn frames views of the landmark architectural school, which itself is noted for a fusion of technology and architecture. Other notable vistas from the buildings overlook Rem Koolhaas' McCormick Tribute Campus Center (which opened not long after State Street), the adjoining Ell tracks, and the city skyline beyond.

Jahn believes a building's façade, particularly a glass façade, is literally its skin. The architect sees a time when this skin will approximate "the wonderful adaptability of the biological human skin," he said in an Architectural Record article. The 65,000 square feet of glass in State Street Village exemplify this idea. The buildings' transparent façades allow light to pass inside, but the glass has been specially tinted to reduce thermal gain. Where the complex adjoins the Ell train tracks, the buildings use sound-dampening glass that allows students to read without being disturbed. In the future, Jahn sees a time when architects will advance these concepts even further, making "use of glass that is photosynthetic, photovoltaic and photochromatic (switchable)."

IIT's State Street Village - and other recent Jahn designs, such as the United Airlines Terminal One Complex at O'Hare Airport in Chicago and the Sony Center in Berlin - show how the architect's facility with technology fits with the latest environmental requirements. Architectural Record says "the European mandate to design workplaces that are simultaneously low-energy, low-carbon-emission and high-comfort has played perfectly into Jahn's love of technology as an expressive means to solve problems." They quote Jahn at the opening ceremony for State Street: ". . . this building stands for an attitude that progress and new expression in architecture come not so much from form and style but through integrating architecture, engineering, and a straightforward expression of its components, materials, and parts in construction."