Ludwig Mies van der Rohe's Time, Life, Works and Philosophy
1. TIME , LIFE, WORKS AND
PHILOSOPIES OF Ludwig Mies
van der Rohe
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Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
(1886- 1969)
• Ludwig Mies was born in Aachen, Nordhein
Westfalen ,Germany, on March 27 1886.
•No formal training in architecture
• Worked under Peter Behrens
• Succeeded Gropius as Bauhaus Director
• Migrated to US and taught architecture
at the Illinois Institute of Technology
• Designed Skyscrapers Of Steel And Glass
which became models of skyscraper design
throughout the world.
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“Less is more.”
-van der Rohe
CHARACTER OF WORKS:
• Simple rectangular forms
• Open, flexible plans and multi-functional spaces
• Widespread use of glass to bring the outside in
• Mastered steel and glass construction
• Exposed and very refined structural details
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1907-11 work at the offices of famed
German architect Peter Behrens.
Early Works
house of Alois Riehl 1906
1912 to start his own office. He
immediately received work
and designed a series of
home in the style of architect
Karl Schinkel.
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German Pavilion , Barcelona 1929
Mies united sophisticated materials with a fluid open plan, which together
endowed the space with an unprecedented modern elegance.
The architecture's
mass is balanced
by a pond
(featuring a
sculpture by
Georg Kolb) and a
shallow pool on
either end
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The Pavilion was innovative in that the design called for the roof to be
supported by chrome columns which meant that the walls could be freely
positioned since they did not support the structure
It was later dismantled
but rebuilt in the
1980’s
German Pavilion , Barcelona 1929
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Tugendhat house
Brno , Czechoslovakia 1930
Mies dealt with the extreme slope by dividing the front and back of the house
into public and private facades. Facing the street, the building is only one
story, but it's two stories on the garden side. The home's decor boasted
several of Mies finest pieces of original furniture, including the Brno chair,
the Tugendhat chair, and the X coffe
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1937 marks the departure of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe from Germany due to
rising pressure from the Nazi party. Before leaving however he was offered a
professorship at the Armour Institute of Technology in Chicago. This would
later become the Illinois Institute of Technology and Mies would be the prime
architect for the campus of the newly formed school.
llIinois Institute of Technology Master Plan,
Chicago , 1939 - 1958
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llIinois Institute of Technology Master Plan,
Chicago , 1939 - 1958
In the realized plan, clusters of
buildings placed on a grade
create a series of informal open
spaces through a playful shifting
of solid (i.e. buildings) and void
(i.e. green space). A 24-foot
square grid invisibly overlays the
campus to guide its order.
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Crown Hall ,llIinois Institute of Technology
Chicago , 1939 - 1958
Ground Floor Plan
Front Elevation
At the Illinois Institute of Technology.
exposed, expressed steel frame, roof
suspended from spanning I-beams.
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In 1944 Mies van der Rohe became a U.S. citizen. In 1946 he began work on
the Farnsworth House a weekend retreat for doctor Edith Farnsworth. It’s one
of the most minimalist houses ever designed being composed of a transparent
box framed by eight exterior steel columns with a single room subdivided by
partitions and completely enclosed in glass.
Farnsworth House
14520 River Rd Plano, IL 60545,US, 1946 - 1951
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Farnsworth House
14520 River Rd Plano, IL 60545,US, 1946 - 1951
It—two parallel planes held in
suspension between the earth and
sky by only eight steel columns—
seems simple, but Mies worked
through 167 drawings to come to his
final, fearless design.
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LAKE SHORE DRIVE APARTMENTS
Illinois, 1948-51
Finally design would merge with
construction and much of the
work that Mies had begun in the
20’s would come to fruition. His
first project being the Lakeshore
Apartment Buildings in Chicago.
The scheme consists of two
identical 26-story towers placed
46 feet apart with their long axes
set perpendicular to each other.
While each building alone is
symmetrical, comprised of 21’
square bays (5 across, 3 deep)
with a total of 288 apartments,
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Once again he created with
form and function . The first
floor of the building rested on
plithes giving the building
integration with the outdoors.
LAKE SHORE DRIVE APARTMENTS,
Illinois, 1951
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SEAGRAM BUILDING,
375 Park Ave, New York, NY, United States 1958
he floor of the Seagram's, as in the Lake Shore Drive, a rectangle of 5x3 squares
structural modules. But the elevation of the building achieves its expressive
perfection, simulating a column with its three constituent parts classic.
His typology shows
clearly the structure in
front, meeting both an
ornamental role,
consisting of steel
beams and columns
of bronze, that without
a structural role fits
perfectly the large
windows that are the
most visible epidermis
of the work.
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Mies van der Rohe was plagued by arthritis for the majority of his
later life. Although involved to the best of his ability Ludwig would
never see the completion of the National Gallery. He died in Chicago,
August, 17, 1969
He died leaving a legacy of revolutionary architecture. Other
then the buildings themselves he is remembered by his
approach to architecture, categorized by such sayings as:
“
“God is in the details.
Architecture is the will of an epoch translated into space.
Thoughts in action.
Mies van der Rohe
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“Let us guide our students…
from materials, through function to creative work…
We must understand the motives and forces of our time
and analyze their structure from three points of view:
the material, the functional, and the spiritual.”
- MIES van der ROHE (1938)
“Form is not the aim of our work, only the result.”
- MIES van der ROHE
“ Economic, technical and cultural conditions have changed radically.”
- MIES van der ROHE (1928)
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