Mies Van der Rohe

“God is in the details” 1very few of architects today actually mean what they say; this famous phrase by
Mies defines him in the most candid way possible. Indeed Mies was a very meticulous person, from his
detailed architecture to his clothing.

Peter hall in his “cities of imagination” has established that architecture often deviates from the utopian
concept that is originally given to it. Sometimes it might be better but on other such occasions it might
just turn out to be “often bizarre, sometimes catastrophic”2. Mies work grew from such thought and
dedication that bad results were seldom found in his design and execution. Indeed he was a man of his
words if nothing else; Mies was famous for inspecting every brick before it was shipped to the
construction site.3

Mies had also been quite detached from politics. He was only concerned with the type and quality of the
work being produced. As Peter Blake recollects and I quote,

“His own political inclinations are practically non-existent; on at least one occasion, during the
years after the second world war, when told by a friend that another German architect of some
prominence…had received an important post despite his past Nazi connexions, Mies flared up
angrily, saying, in effect, that he didn’t give a damn about the mans politics, but was concerned
with the fact that the man was a rotten architect!” 4

Even though Mies had this detachment from politics it nonetheless affected his work and he revisited
this view later during the Nazi regime.

These political influences that effect not only architecture but also urban planning peter hall is quick to
append that they play a very important role. Of course political unrest was the main reason that Mies
had to leave his homeland for America. Mies had been the director of the Bauhaus in 1933 when Hitler
came to power. The Bauhaus was again under attack 5. It was identified with communist influences; their
work termed as “bolshevist”, “degenerate” as well as “un-German”6. This lead to a strong distaste for
the Nazi and eventually to the end of Bauhaus in 1934. Following this Mies's work came to a standstill
until in 1937 he was brought to America where he was finally able to build again. Hall suggests

“Historical actors do perform in response to the world they find themselves in and in particular
to the problems that they confront in that world” 7

1
From Ludwig Mies van der Rohe quotes, Copyright ® ThinkExist 1999-2009
<http://thinkexist.com/quotes/ludwig_mies_van_der_rohe/>
2
Peter Hall, Chapter1 Alternative Visions of the Good City,1880–1987, Cities of Imagination, Pg.2-3.
3
Peter Blake, Mies Van Der Rohe, Architecture and structure, Copyright ® 1960 Peter Blake
4
Peter Blake, Mies Van Der Rohe, Architecture and structure, Copyright ® 1960 Peter Blake Pg.29
5
it had previously been forced to move to Berlin when the Nazi had taken over the province of Anhalt.
6
Peter Blake, Mies Van Der Rohe, Architecture and structure, Copyright ® 1960 Peter Blake Pg. 67
7
Peter Hall, Chapter1 Alternative Visions of the Good City,1880–1987, Cities of Imagination, Pg.4
This statement is of course also true for Mies for his experience with the Nazis and even from the
previous years. Looking back into the past, one can evoke the term “modern” for what the architect was
doing. Declining the old, traditional ways of building, Mies took a new form of expression that shook the
world view. His radical designs and concepts were what shaped the architecture of the 20 th century.8 The
earliest of his buildings were based on the “bone and skin” architecture as was evident from his glass
tower9, which was never built but still became inspiration of many. His use of simple forms, glass and
brick and landscape in architecture was famous and his ideas and concepts still in use today.

“But equally, human beings – especially the most intelligent and most original among them –
are almost infinitely quirksy and creative and surprising; therefore, the real interest in history,
beyond the staggeringly self-evident, lies in the complexity and the variability of the human
reaction.”10

And Mies had one of those “complex” and “variable” reactions that made him a master. Mies’s vision,
“less is more”11 had inspired architects to create simplistic designs. And combined with that theory, and
his attention to details had created masterpieces in architecture. His ideas had been incorporated in
many buildings. And for all of his work that was copied, Mies had no issues. 12

Problem solving was not one of Mies's ambitions; he was looking for forms over function as was evident
by his Barcelona pavilion (1929). Here the world witnessed a building based purely on forms and spatial
composition rather than on functionality. Even though Mies believed in functional spaces, but this piece
of architecture was esteemed more for its form that what it had been used for. 13

In terms of economy, one might suspect Mies to be one to handle finances well and build affordable
architecture. Surprisingly, this is not true. All of his work was for the wealthy. His taste for expensive
materials that a post-war architect might never have used at all, was openly displayed in most of his
buildings. These included famous buildings like the Barcelona pavilion, Tugendhat house, the
Farnsworth house, among many others. He is famous for using materials like white onyx, black and
brown Makassar ebony, chrominium coatings to even gold. 14 He went as far as designing his own chairs
and tables for houses and pavilions. This is to be considered especially in the time of the Nazi rule. The
three to four year period after Bauhaus was officially closed, Mies had trouble getting to practice this
was due to the fact that he was despondent using the “Nazi approved” design15 and also the fact that
nobody was willing to spend the money demanded by Meis's architecture.

8
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe : architect biography
<http://architect.architecture.sk/ludwig-mies-van-der-rohe-architect/ludwig-mies-van-der-rohe-architect.php>
9
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886-1958), Theories and approach, Building Connections
<http://www.buildingconnections.co.uk/resources/4thdimension/mmasters_van_der_rohe.html>
10
Peter Hall, Chapter1 Alternative Visions of the Good City,1880–1987, Cities of Imagination, Pg.4
11
Copyright 2009 BrainyMedia.com Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Quotes
12
Peter Blake, Mies Van Der Rohe, Architecture and structure, Copyright ® 1960 Peter Blake pg. 61
13
Peter Blake, Mies Van Der Rohe, Architecture and structure, Copyright ® 1960 Peter Blake pg.56-57
14
Peter Blake, Mies Van Der Rohe, Architecture and structure, Copyright ® 1960 Peter Blake pg 58-60
15
Peter Blake, Mies Van Der Rohe, Architecture and structure, Copyright ® 1960 Peter Blake pg 68
 “Mies’s own personal tastes-his preference for quit, expensive clothes, for…near precious
building materials-seem to have led him in later years into associations with wealthy
conservatives…”16

During the Bauhaus era, architects were looking to build economical housing most notable of them was
Walter Gropius. These architects were creating apartments and “communities” with light airy functional
design and those that could be constructed easily. Gropius wanted them to be “as easily mass produced
as shoes”17

16
Peter Blake, Mies Van Der Rohe, Architecture and structure, Copyright ® 1960 Peter Blake pg 29
17
The modern urban landscape By E. C. Relph (pg 109-111)