Mies van der Rohe, Ludwig (1886–1969)

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The architecture of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe was based on the ideology of a new technology, manifest in steel and glass. As an accomplished rationalist, he was objectively interested in the efficiency of construction as well as the expressive qualities of structure (Blaser, 1997). Mies also used a formal, geometric, and proportional system to order space according to its function. The son of a builder and stonemason, Mies was born in Aachen, Germany. He was schooled in Berlin at the School of the Museum of Arts and Crafts and the Institute of Fine Arts. In 1905 he
entered the profession of architecture, working with Bruno Paul in Berlin, and then Peter Behrens in Neubabelsberg. In 1924, he founded the group called The Ring in rebellion against the conservative establishment of architects in Germany. Becoming involved in the education of architects, Mies took the position as the director of the Bauhaus (1930–1932). Prior to World War II, in 1938 he immigrated to the United States to direct the future architecture program at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. Building his practice in Chicago, he completed projects such as the Crown Hall on the campus of IIT (1950–1956); Farnsworth House (1945–1951); the Seagram Building, New York City (1954–1958); and the Toronto-Dominion Center (1963–1969) (Blaser, 1997; Cohen, 1996; Drexler, 1960; Schulze, 1985).

Mies had begun his career with theoretical projects of houses and glass skyscrapers, but his first prominent project was the Barcelona Pavilion (the German Pavilion at the International Exhibition in Barcelona in 1928–1929). A building without a program, the Pavilion was an open plan of glass and green marble with slender columns clad in chrome. Its ambiguous enclosure of horizontal and vertical slabs found its ornament in the rich materials.

At the Bauhaus, Mies encouraged his students to develop their projects with vast numbers of sketches before committing to final drawings (Cohen, 1996). Mies’ sketches, from the collection at the Museum of Modern Art, show mostly plans accompanied by interior perspectives and elaborate construction details that show connections (Drexler, 1986).

An unusual technique Mies employed was that of collage. These paper constructions were abstractions, not intended to portray spatial qualities. They may be considered sketches since they present a basic outline, pertain to conceptual thinking and provide little pictorial orientation. Pieces of cut paper were pasted in juxtaposition so as to make a semblance of a parti. The constructions were often combinations of elevation and section, in order to study the compositional proportions that expressed the essence of the project. This image represents such an example. Using five or six pieces of colored paper, Mies has carefully cut rectangles to place in comparative positions on the page. He used bright yellow paper drawn over with a grid, resembling fenestration or an abstract pattern. In the center has been placed a very dark rectangle surrounded with light gray, tan, and white pieces.

This collaged sketch is really about precise and imprecise. The paper has been cut very neatly and shows exact proportions. The forms reflect Mies’ bold and simple rectangles which act as planes slicing through space. In contrast, the composition of pieces is simultaneously imprecise. These cutouts are not plan, section, or elevation; they suggest building blocks and are therefore alluding to spatial relationships and construction. Without a ground line, the assembly provides little orientation. The proportions may be valid from any direction. This collage from 1909, early in his career as an architect, reveals Mies’ penchant for the De Stijl-like juxtaposition of horizontals and verticals.