Vertical Vortex

By Koren Wetmore

Considered by some at IIT to be the “windiest spot on Main Campus,” the west side of IIT Tower exhibits conditions that can be attributed to an airflow pattern known as a recirculation region. Because of the building’s height, the higher-speed air above it hits the top of the structure and then funnels down toward the ground. From there, it “flows down alongside the building and then comes out and around and goes back up,” says urban airflow expert Candace Wark, IIT professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering. “So you have this big recirculation region located right in front of the door you’re trying to enter.”

Vertical Vortex
Illustration depicting the IIT Tower and a nearby building with downward arrows running from the sky above the building down the side of the IIT Tower. Those arrows then flow across the ground and circulate in a vertical vortex that rotates round and round, while upward arrows flow up from the space across from the tower.