1963 Plan

In the 1960s the University anticipated the student body growing to around 40,000 students. With this in mind, the university understood that a new plan that looked to the future would be necessary. Johnson, Johnson, and Roy were hired as consultants and in turn were given a list of requirements for the new plan. It made the campus beautiful and orderly while maintaining easy circulation of pedestrians and vehicles. Most importantly the new plan had to be flexible enough to meet the future needs of the growing university (Mayer, 132). The plan, developed in consultation with Johnson, Johnson, and Roy, introduced the concept of "framework planning." There was less emphasis on architectural styles and more on community interface, walkways, open space, road systems, parking systems, etc. This new style of framework planning became a pioneering effort for campus planning across the country (Mayer, 133).

Johnson, Johnson, and Roy created the 1963 Central Campus Plan in close partnership with U-M faculty and planning staff. The group constructed a groundbreaking holistic or "framework" approach which developed concepts to be systematically applied to the planning process. The plan guided growth for the next twenty-five years (Mayer, p.133).

The new plan also looked beyond the original forty-acres and included the development of North Campus. Eero Saarinen, son of Eliel Saarinen, developed a master plan for North Campus, but only the design for the Earl V. Moore School of Music was used (Duderstadt, p. 275). The principles set forth by the 1963 plan and the ideas behind it are still influential, making the campus of today.

North campus plan designed by Eero Saaranin

Eero Saarinen designed this 3-D model in 1954, as part of his master plan for North Campus, which was not adopted. However, the design for the Earl V. Moore School of Music (1963) was used (Duderstadt, p. 275). Saarinen is known for designing the General Motors Technical Center, Bell Labs, the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, and the TWA Flight Center at JFK International Airport.

Campus Areas of the University of Michigan shows campus in the throes of its postwar growth with, “an anticipated growth . . . to 40,000 students.” Much of the building expansion would be on North Campus which in 1960 already had several lab buildings, the Michigan Memorial Phoenix Project which encompassed the Ford Nuclear Reactor (1957), Northwood Terrace, and a library storage building.

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1943 Plan