Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886 – 1969) was an American architect of German descent, one of the founders of the “international style”, which is characterized by the use of regular geometric shapes. His work has had a noticeable impact on subsequent generations of architects. Buildings by Mies van der Rohe made of steel and glass are distinguished by a clear proportional solution of both the bulk of the building and its interior space, as well as an emphasis on horizontals and verticals. Starting his developments in the field of functionalism, he gradually leaves them in search of the absolute ideal geometry of form. Mies begins to neglect the usual everyday requirements contradicting the initial requirements of functionalism “Function determines form”. Thus, Mies is gradually moving away from the principles that he himself developed in Germany at the beginning of his career. By doing so he moves forward, guided by the principle “Less is more”, Mies develops the concept of a “universal” building – an extremely simple glass parallelepiped, the surface of which is divided by racks that repeat evenly.

Features of the architecture of Mies van der Rohe:

• Abstractness of elementary geometric bodies, to which the outlines of buildings were reduced;
• The function is subordinate to the form;
• Accuracy of right angles, planes, and parallel lines;
• Spread parallelepiped – “house-box” and frame high-rise volume;
• Details are kept to a minimum;
• “Radiance”, “fullness of light” in the continuity of the glass surfaces that formed the outer surfaces of the building;
• The individuality of complex proportional systems is complemented by thin profiles of parts;
• Glass and steel are two materials that embody the main idea of the author. Protruding steel profiles add relief to the building surfaces;
• “Simplicity” of buildings was expensive and was achieved by a) the complexity of technologies; b) complex constructive solutions; c) using materials of special quality; d) expensive engineering equipment.

 The main buildings by Mies van der Rohe:

• German Embassy in St. Isaac’s Square in St. Petersburg (designed by architect Peter Behrens), 1911 – 1912;
• Monument to Bismarck, 1912;
• Monument in honor of the leaders Karl Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg, 1926;
• German Pavilion at the 1929 International Exhibition in Barcelona;
• Tugendhat House in Brno, 1930;
• Illinois University of Technology (Chicago), Mies van der Rohe, 1940;
• School of Architecture, Illinois Institute of Technology (Crownhall);
• Farnsworth House, 1946;
• Skyscraper Seagram Building in New York, 1958.
• IBM Plaza in Chicago;
• Skyscrapers in Toronto (Canada).
• New National Gallery in West Berlin, 1968.