
Walter Netsch, former principal at Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill, is well known for his work with field theory, a method of design based on fields of rotated grids. In the 1960s Netsch applied this technique to a number of projects, including the campus of the University of Illinois at Chicago. His contribution to Late Entries playfully extrudes the grid into a tower, a pattern that he described as a butterfly in a field of flowers.

Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey, Elevation and Plan
Walter Andrew Netsch American, 1920–2008

Chicago Tribune Tower II Late Entry, A Field Theory Butterfly Tower in the Chrysanthemum Field, Elevation Study
Walter Andrew Netsch (American, 1920–2008) Wayne Tjaden (American, Unknown) Ed Woodbury (American, Unknown)

Inland Steel Building: Model of Preliminary Design
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, architects; American, founded 1936 Walter A. Netsch, designer; American, 1920-2008