LUDWIEG MIES VAN DER ROHE

BY ANIRUDDH BABBAR
 INDEX
• PREFACE

• LEGACY.

• HIS LIFE.

• HIS SIGNIFICANCE.

• HIS WORK ARCHITECTURE.

• HIS MAJOR CONCEPTS.

• BIBLOGRAPHY.
PREFACE
THIS
PRESENTATION IS
TO CONVEY THE
LIFE HISTORY,
THE WORKS OF
THE ARCHITECT
S’IR MIES VAN
DER ROHE,

HIS LIFE
ACHIEVEMENTS,
EARLY LIFE AND
THE
SIGNIFICANCE OF
HIS WORK IN
CONTEMPORARY
WORLD AND THE
STUDIES OF THE
ARCHITECTURE
STUDENTS
 LEGACY
• 1886—MIES VAN DER ROHE IS BORN

• 1905---MOVES TO BERLIN

• 1907---RIEHL HOUSE (HIS FIRST PROJECT)

• 1917---URBIG HOUSE (HIS FIRST OWN DESIGN)

• 1926---HE MET LE CORBUSIER IN STUTTGART, GERMANY

• 1929---HE STARTED DESIGNING FURNITURE

• 1937---HE MET FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT

• 1951---COMPLETED FARNSWORTH HOUSE.

• 1958—GAVE MASTER PLAN OF IILINOIS INSTITITE OF TECHNOLOGY

• 1958---RETIRES FROM IIT & GAVE SEAGRAM TOWERS

• 1969---HE DIED IN ILLINOIS, CHICAGO

 HIS LIFE
• LUDWIG MIES VAN DER ROHE (BORN MARIA LUDWIG MICHAEL MIES; MARCH 27, 1886 – AUGUST 17, 1969) WAS A
GERMAN-AMERICAN ARCHITECT. HE IS COMMONLY REFERRED TO AND WAS ADDRESSED AS MIES, HIS SURNAME.
ALONG WITH LE CORBUSIER, WALTER GROPIUS ANDFRANK LLOYD WRIGHT, HE IS WIDELY REGARDED AS ONE OF THE
PIONEERS OF MODERN ARCHITECTURE.

• MIES, LIKE MANY OF HIS POST-WORLD WAR I CONTEMPORARIES, SOUGHT TO ESTABLISH A NEW ARCHITECTURAL
STYLE THAT COULD REPRESENT MODERN TIMES JUST AS CLASSICAL AND GOTHIC DID FOR THEIR OWN ERAS. HE
CREATED AN INFLUENTIAL TWENTIETH-CENTURY ARCHITECTURAL STYLE, STATED WITH EXTREME CLARITY AND
SIMPLICITY.

• HIS MATURE BUILDINGS MADE USE OF MODERN MATERIALS SUCH AS INDUSTRIAL STEEL AND PLATE GLASS TO
DEFINE INTERIOR SPACES. HE STROVE TOWARD AN ARCHITECTURE WITH A MINIMAL FRAMEWORK OF STRUCTURAL
ORDER BALANCED AGAINST THE IMPLIED FREEDOM OF FREE-FLOWING OPEN SPACE.

• HE CALLED HIS BUILDINGS "SKIN AND BONES" ARCHITECTURE. HE SOUGHT A RATIONAL APPROACH THAT WOULD
GUIDE THE CREATIVE PROCESS OF ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN, BUT HE WAS ALWAYS CONCERNED WITH EXPRESSING
THE SPIRIT OF THE MODERN ERA. HE IS OFTEN ASSOCIATED WITH HIS QUOTATION OF THE APHORISMS, "LESS IS MORE
" AND "GOD IS IN THE DETAILS".
 HIS SIGNIFICANCE
• MIES PURSUED AN AMBITIOUS LIFELONG MISSION TO CREATE A NEW ARCHITECTURAL LANGUAGE THAT COULD BE
USED TO REPRESENT THE NEW ERA OF TECHNOLOGY AND PRODUCTION. HE SAW A NEED FOR AN ARCHITECTURE
EXPRESSIVE OF AND IN HARMONY WITH HIS EPOCH, JUST AS GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE WAS FOR AN ERA OF
SPIRITUALISM. HE BELIEVED THAT THE CONFIGURATION AND ARRANGEMENT OF EVERY ARCHITECTURAL ELEMENT,
PARTICULARLY INCLUDING THE CHARACTER OF ENCLOSED SPACE, MUST CONTRIBUTE TO A UNIFIED EXPRESSION..

• ONE NOTABLE WAY THAT MIES CONNECTED HIS BUILDINGS WITH NATURE WAS BY EXTENDING OUTDOOR PLAZA
TILES INTO THE FLOOR OF A LOBBY, SYNTHESIZING THE EXTERIOR AND INTERIOR SPACES OF THE SITE. THE DEVICE
ACCENTUATED THE EFFORTLESS FLOW BETWEEN NATURAL CONDITIONS AND ARTIFICIAL STRUCTURES. THIS
CHARACTERISTIC IS OFTEN FOUND IN HIS LARGE BUILDING PROJECTS SUCH AS THE SEAGRAM BUILDING.

• THE SELF-EDUCATED MIES PAINS TAKINGLY STUDIED THE GREAT PHILOSOPHERS AND THINKERS, PAST AND PRESENT,
TO ENHANCE HIS OWN UNDERSTANDING OF THE CHARACTER AND ESSENTIAL QUALITIES OF THE TECHNOLOGICAL
TIMES HE LIVED IN. MORE THAN PERHAPS ANY OTHER PRACTISING PIONEER OF MODERNISM, MIES MINED THE
WRITINGS OF PHILOSOPHERS AND THINKERS FOR IDEAS THAT WERE RELEVANT TO HIS ARCHITECTURAL MISSION.

• EVERY ASPECT OF HIS ARCHITECTURE, FROM OVERALL CONCEPT TO THE SMALLEST DETAIL, SUPPORTS HIS EFFORT
TO EXPRESS THE MODERN AGE. THE DEPTH OF MEANING CONVEYED BY HIS WORK, BEYOND ITS AESTHETIC
QUALITIES, HAS DRAWN MANY CONTEMPORARY PHILOSOPHERS AND THEORETICAL THINKERS TO CONTINUE TO
FURTHER EXPLORE AND SPECULATE ABOUT HIS ARCHITECTURE.
 HIS WORK

MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, HOUSTON CHICAGO FEDERAL COMPLEX SEAGRAM BUILDINGS, NEW YORK

FARNSWORTH HOUSE, CHICAGO RIEHL HOUSE LAKE SHORE BUILDING

 HIS MAJOR CONCEPTS
• FLUID SPACE

• SEAMLESS FLOW BETWEEN INDOORS AND OUTDOORS.

• STEEL-AND-GLASS STYLE.

• LESS IS MORE

• GOD IS IN THE DETAILS

• SIMPLE DESIGN

• MINIMILISTIC COMPLEX SPACES

• TRADITIONALISM TO MODERNISM

• USE OF PURE FORMS

• USE OF TRUTH OF THE MATERIALS

 BIBLOGRAPHY
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_Mies_van_der_Rohe

• http://www.miessociety.org/legacy/

• http://www.miessociety.org/legacy/projects/