DESIGN

THEORY I
Chapter 1

Ludwig Mies Van der Rohe

(March 27, 1886- August 17, 1969)

Real name- Maria Ludwig Michael Mies

• German American architect Born in Aachen, German, on March 27, 1886
• Trained with his father, a master stonemason
• Began his career in his family stone carving business in Germany
• Never received any formal architectural training
• Initially worked as a draftsman specializing in furniture design
• Worked for several architects like Bruno Paul, Industrial architect Peter Behrens
• Opened his own office in Berlin, 1912
• Moved to United States in 1937 for 20 years ( 1938-1958) was Director of Illinois
Institute of Technology
• Began studying the skyscraper and designed two innovative steel framed tower
encased in glass after World War I
• In 1921, changed his name Maria Ludwig Mies to Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe
• Began experimenting with steel frames and glass walls in his early life
• Achieved international recognition as one of the leading figures of modern
architecture , through his works such as:
 Barcelona Pavilion,
 Tugendhat House,
 Farnsworth House,
 Lake Shore Drive Apartments,
 Crown Hall,
 The Seagram Building,
 New National Gallery and
 Lake Point Tower.
Philosophy

• Less is more
• God is in the details
• I don’t want to be interesting. I want to be good
• Architecture is the will of an epoch translated into space
• Architecture starts when you carefully put two bricks together
• Rectilinear forms
• Craft in elegant simplicity
Philosophy

a. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, along with

Walter Gropius and Le Corbusier, is
widely regarded as one of the
pioneering masters of Modern
Architecture
b. Mies, like many of his post World War I
contemporaries, attempt to establish a Walter Gropius

new architectural style that could

represent modern times just as
Classical and Gothic did for their own
eras.
c. Create a new architectural language
that could be used to represent the Le Corbusier

new era of technology and production.

His Works……….
Barcelona/ German Pavilion, (1928-29)
Exhibition Building- Emergence of modernism in
architecture

• This building was used for the official

opening of the German section of the
exhibition.
• It's known for its simple form
• Materials, such as marble, red onyx and
travertine.
• Translucent glass, perform exclusively as
spatial dividers
• A continuous space, blurring inside and
outside
• The same features of minimalism can be
seen in Barcelona chair.
• These concept were carried out with
the realization of the "Free plan" and
the "Floating roof".

• Structural system was supposed to be

a steel frame with glass and polished
stone.

• The floor slabs of the pavilion project

out and over the pool—once again
connecting inside and out.

• Since it was planned as a temporary

exhibition pavilion, building was torn
down in early 1930, However, with
reference to photos and plans, a
group of Catalan architects
reconstructed the pavilion
permanently between 1983 and
1986.
The Seagram Building
The building won American Institute of
Architects 25 Year Award, 1980

• Location: New York

• Construction Date: 1954 to 1958
• Building Type: skyscraper,
commercial office tower
• Construction System: steel
frame with curtain wall, bronze
exterior “columns”
• Context: Urban
• Style: Modern
The Seagram Building
• It is a 38 storied; 157m tall skyscraper, located at Manhattan, New York, built in
1958.
• It stands as one of the finest examples of the functionalist aesthetic and a
masterpiece of corporate modernism.
• One of the style's characteristic was to express or articulate the structure of
buildings externally.
• The functional utility of the building’s structural elements when made visible,
as a formal decorative articulation.
• On completion, the construction costs of Seagram made it the world's most
expensive skyscraper at the time, due to the use of expensive, high-quality
materials and lavish interior decoration including bronze, travertine and marble.
Farnsworth House
(1946 to 1950) American Institute of
Architects 25 Year Award, 1981

• Location: Plano, Illinois

• Construction Date: 1946 to 1950
• Building Type: Residential
• Construction System: Steel frame
with glass
• Style: Modern
Farnsworth House

• It is a one-room weekend retreat in

southwest of Chicago's downtown
designed as a weekend retreat place.
• This house is widely recognized as an
iconic masterpiece of International
Style of Architecture.
• There's essence of simplicity in the
purest form, displaying the ever-
changing play of nature.
• Very private areas such as toilets and
mechanical rooms are enclosed within
the core.
Farnsworth House

• Two distinctly expressed

horizontal slabs, which form the
roof and the floor, sandwich an
open space for living.
• The home was designated a
National Historic Landmark in
2006
• The house is currently owned by
the historic preservation group,
National Trust for Historic
Preservation.
Modern Architecture

• Architectural style, stated with extreme clarity and simplicity

• Use of modern materials such as industrial steel and plate, glass to
define interior spaces.
• An architecture with a minimal framework of structural order
balanced against the implied freedom of free flowing open space.