on the west side of main campus are three red brick buildings that were original to armour institute, built between 1891 and 1901. in 1938, ludwig mies van der rohe began his 20-year tenure as director of iit's school of architecture (1938–1959). the university was on the verge of building a brand new campus, to be one of the nation's first federally funded urban renewal projects. mies was given great freedom in the large project. the university grew fast enough during and after world war ii to allow much of the new plan to be realized. from 1943 to 1957, several new mies buildings rose across campus, including the s.r. crown hall, which houses the architecture school, and was designated a national historic landmark in 2001.