Overview
The College of Architecture’s culture and curriculum spring from an embrace of “making” as the center of design education. Nowhere is that more evident than in our Fabrication Center, a remarkable 14,000 square-foot, 3-story building laboratory housed in the first building completed by Mies in America. The Fabrication Center can support everything from fine-grain woodworking to the construction of full-scale building sections (which can be carried outside via two multi-ton gantry cranes). A dedicated staff of professional fabricators and artisans oversees operations and teach regular classes in materials research, design, and construction.
Capabilities
The College of Architecture has one of the finest fabrication centers anywhere. Located in the first building completed by Mies on the Illinois Institute of Technology campus, the fabrication center comprises more than 14,000 square feet of high-bay (40 feet high) research and construction facilities, a space like no other on an American college campus. With an exhaustive complement of digital and analog tools—including seven laser cutters, two 4-foot by 8-foot flat bed CNC mills, fourteen 3D printers, seven large format Sawstop table saws, 2 multi-ton gantry cranes and more—students can, and do, build projects at every scale. The College has invested more than $1 million in the Fabrication Center in the last 5 years alone, and the pace of change continues to accelerate. Our four highly trained staff members teach across the curriculum and provide service recognized by the University as the finest on campus. This is a College that's all about making, and our unparalleled Fabrication Center is the center of that enterprise.
Digital Fabrication Tools
- ShopSabre Pro 408 CNC router
- ShopSabre 4896 CNC router
- (6) Universal 60-watt laser cutters
- Universal Laser 120-watt laser cutter
- (3) Table top pen plotters
- (17) Prusa MK4 3D printers
- (6) Ultimaker 3 3D Printers
Stationary Power Tools for Wood, Metal and Plastics
- (2) router tables
- (7) SawStop 10-inch table saws
- Powermatic 8-inch jointer
- Powermatic 20-inch wood planer
- Powermatic 20-inch bandsaw
- Powermatic 16-inch bandsaw
- Laguna 16-inch bandsaw
- Grizzly 16-inch bandsaw
- (2) Rockwell 14-inch bandsaws
- (2) Bosch dual-bevel sliding miter saws
- Safety Speed panel saw
- (2) Delta scroll saws
- (2) Bridgeport vertical milling machines
- Powermatic 20-inch drum sander
- Rockwell disc sander
- (2) Delta combination sanders
- Rockwell 6-inch Belt Sander
- Grizzly spindle sander Delta
- 14-inch drill press
- (3) 15-inch drill presses
- 18-inch Vacuformer
- 12-inch Vacuformer
- Laboratory oven
- (2) small foundry ovens
- Hot wire bender
- Hot wire foam cutters
- Cincinnati buffer
- Sheldon engine lathe
- Jet horizontal bandsaw
- KAKA horizontal bandsaw
- DoAll bandsaw
- DiAcro 36-inch sheet metal shears
- DiAcro 24-inch sheet metal brake
- Baileigh 48-inch sheet metal brake
- Baileigh 48-inch sheet metal shear
- Hossfeld bender
- Baldor grinder
- Two oxy-acetylene welding sets
- Lincoln arc welder
- Miller spot welder
- (2) MIG welders Lincoln
- Lincoln TIG welder
- Paint booth
- Soldering Irons
- Lincoln plasma cutter
- Hand tools
- Clamps
- Drills
- Impact drivers
- Routers
Contact Information
Schedule
Monday–Thursday: 9am to 9pm
Friday: 9am to 6pm
Saturday: 12pm to 5pm
Sunday: 12pm to 8pm
Model Shop
312.567.3259
Resources
IIT CoA Model Shop
This website allows for students to view open times and monitor weekly schedules for the CNC and laser machines.
Policies
The Materials Lab is only open to qualified, currently enrolled, architecture students. Before you can use the facility you must qualify by passing a written test. This test measures your knowledge of safe operating procedures of the shop’s equipment. If you are entering the five year bachelor's degree program or the three year master’s degree program, this safety instruction will be part of your studio work. However, if you are a transfer student or if you are in one of the other master’s degree programs, you will have to make a special effort to qualify yourself, which you do by passing a written test on machine and work place safety, and a schedule for these test sessions will be posted by the door of the M&M shop office. A list of students who are qualified to use the shop is kept by the door to the shop office.
To prepare for this test you can either attend one of the two-session Safety Orientation Classes or you can watch the video of this class. Signup sheets for the classes, which are held during the first weeks of each semester, are posted on the bulletin board by the shop office door in M&M.
General Policies
Students must observe safe working practices when working in the shop, and these are explained in the Safety Orientation Class and Video. Failure to do so can result in expulsion from the Materials Lab. Whenever you are in doubt about the safety of an operation, please ask for advice or assistance from the staff.
Machine guards must be used whenever practical. In particular the table saw guards must be used when ripping any part wider than 12”. The machining of small parts poses particular dangers. No work piece that is smaller than 3” in its longest dimension may be cut on the table saw. Long hair, loose sleeves, dangling jewelry or cords present a special danger around machinery. Bare feet also pose an unnecessary risk of injury. Students must eliminate these sartorial hazards before working in the shop.
This facility is staffed when it is open for use, and students may not work in the shop or the laser lab after the posted hours. After 10:00 pm these staff members ask everyone to leave, and for safety, liability and security reasons lock up for the night. Students are not allowed to work alone or after hours.
During periods when school is not in session, Faculty may obtain access keys for their own use. They may also bring students into the shop that are working directly under their supervision. Under no circumstances is the faculty person to leave the student(s) unsupervised, nor are they permitted to give the access key to a student.
Laser Cutters
Only students who have passed the special laser cutter training session can use the laser cutter. The schedule of these training sessions, which are offered during the first few weeks of each semester, is posted by the doorway to the laser room. The list of those students who are permitted to use the machine is posted on the wall in the laser room.
Students who have attended the laser cutter training can make appointments to reserve up to two hours per week on the laser cutters. Students needing additional laser time can only obtain it on a standby basis. Appointments can be canceled at any time, but missed appointments can result in termination of reservation privileges. Students who use unapproved materials, or who do not stand by the machine while it is working will forfeit their access to the machine.
Students must make laser cutter reservations in person. To make a reservation please go to the shop crib during regular business hours and speak to a student attendant. Appointments can be scheduled for any given week beginning on Thursday noon of the previous week.
While you cannot reserve a time online, the laser cutter schedule is available online.
CNC Milling Machines
Using these milling machines is more complicated than operating the laser cutter. Only students in certain studio classes in which the process is taught, or students working under the supervision of one of the Materials Lab staff may operate this equipment.
Commercial Work
The Materials Lab exists to support the educational mission of the College. In addition, faculty and currently enrolled students may use the facility to work on personal projects if it is not busy. However, commercial projects, such as a model for an architectural firm, can be brought into the shop only if all commercial work conditions are met.
Commercial Work Conditions for Use:
- Only currently enrolled students may perform the work.
- The project must not interfere in any way with school projects.
- An overhead fee of $100 per hour per worker must be paid to the College. The charge will be assessed for the number of hours that the worker(s) are in the room.
Tool Check-Out
Architecture students may borrow hand and power tools from the shop’s collection for use in their studio projects. Students may borrow tools, preferably, for no more than three days. Because our collection is shared among a large number of students, students who need a tool for a prolonged period of time are encouraged to buy their own.
If you bring your own tools into Crown Hall, please clearly mark your name on them, so they can be returned to you when they are misplaced. There is an engraver in the Shop’s Crib, so you can mark indelibly on practically any material. Apart from drills and Dremel tools, students may not bring personal power tools into the college because the university will not be responsible for their unauthorized use.
Storage of Materials and Projects
Unfortunately, there is not enough space to store non-active projects. Therefore, do not bring your materials into the shop until you are ready to use them, and then pursue your project aggressively. Normally students store materials on the shelves with their names and contact information clearly marked on them. When you leave for the day, clear your project off of the workbench and store any small parts in one of the lockers beneath the benches or in a box on one of the shelves.
Each morning when the shop is straightened out and the workbenches cleaned off, materials left about will be placed in the scrap pile. Materials in the scrap pile are free and available to anyone who wants to use them. Abandoned projects will be thrown out, however, sometimes it’s hard to distinguish between abandoned projects and idle projects. Protect yourself by completing your project swiftly and then removing it from the shop. If you have a special storage problem, please speak with John Kriegshauser or one of the assistant supervisors.
Spraying Paint
The spray booth located at the south end of M&M is the appropriate place to spray paint, aerosol adhesives and lacquers in the College because it provides an exhaust fan and air filters. Using aerosols at your desk results in overspray mess and a toxic atmosphere in the studio. Adjacent to the booth is a paint cabinet in which you can store your paint. Please put your name on any cans of paint that you want to keep.
Paint, ink, solvents and other flammable or toxic liquids may not be poured down the sink. Instead discard these materials in the red paint waste containers located by the spray booth. Aerosol cans, whether empty or full, should be disposed of in the box marked for that purpose by the spray booth. These materials are then removed by a specialized waste hauler.
Students can borrow spray guns directly from the shop supervisor by putting up a $20 cleaning deposit. If the gun is not completely clean upon return, the deposit will be forfeited.