Mies Van Der Rohe

introduction

Mies van der Rohe received little formal training and education. He learnt about stone and materials
from his farther, a master mason. This and a stream of apprentices on building sites gave him the initial
understanding of building from a very practical sense.
‘Now a brick that’s really something, that’s really building. Not paper Architecture’ Taken from a speech
made byMies van der Rohe. Blake (1997).
After working for some notable Architects in Germany, Mies started to work under Peter Behrens along
with other young promising Architects such as Le Corbusier. At Behrens, Mies developed an interest
in Neoclassicism, particular the work of Karl Friedrich Schinkel. There were three aspects of Schinkel’s
work which were to make a big impression on Mies;
The way inwhich he placed his buildings on a pedestal to give them certain nobility.
His use of classical proportions and scale which was applicable to buildings of any period.
The purity of form in some of his buildings.
Mies’s pre-WWI Schinkelesque manner of ‘using glass, simplification of details and fine proportions set
his work apart’ and structure as an overriding discipline had begun to interesthim more and more.
Blake (1997)
A notion of honesty as a design rational began to become influential to Mies and he particularly admired
the Amsterdam Stock exchange designed by dutch Architect Hendrik Berlarge. His use of exposed
structure and monolithic brick walls was very appealing to Mies and he began to think that architects
such as Schinkel and Behrens were becoming interested in formfor forms sake.
In 1919 Mies entered a competition and produced a design for a tower in Friedrichstrasse, Berlin.
Although the entry was deemed unacceptable due to the rules of the competition, people had never
seen such expanses of glass before and his work began to attract some attention. The impact of this
building became a huge revelation, it showed; simplicity, discipline, precision andsingle mindedness.
‘The ideology of an endless process of purification and crystallization of an idea, until that idea becomes
so disarmingly simple so obvious that is must, according to Mies’s beliefs – represent the ultimate
truth.’ Blake (1997)
What was impressive about Mies at this stage was that he had an unprecedented understanding of the
materials he was using and in turn produceddesigns that were formed from the rational use of these
materials. In 1922 a design for a office building displaying a purist rational from, with ribbon windows
was exhibited, the design made possible through his understanding of steel and glass. This design
again gained him notable interest.
It soon became clear to Mies that ‘no building could be a clear statement unless its proportions anddetails were related, from the smallest unit to the overall form.’ Blake (1997).
In the 1920’s Mies had a considerable amount of written philosophy published, this expressed is
constantly evolving views of architecture, which arguably and not completely present in his built work
of this time, more so in his later work in the US.

LESS
IS MORE.
the design philosophy of
ludwig mies van der rohethe design philosophy of mies van der rohe

Fig. 1.1 Mies van der Rohe,
http://
texasvignettes.files.wordpress.
com/2010/08/mies-van-der-rohe.jpg

‘We refuse to recognise problems of form, but only problems of building. Form is not the aim of our
work but only the result. Form by itself does not exist. Form by itself is formalism; and that we reject.’
Taken from ‘G’ magazinepublication in 1923. Schulze (1995).

Roll Number: @00035241
Title of Assignment: Coursework 1
Module Name: Architectural Detailing
Programme of Study: ADT
Year of Study: 2010
Full Time/Part Time/Distance Taught: Part Time
oliver beasley

weissenhof apartments

1

In 1927 Mies built, an apartment building at the Weisennhof Exhibition of such perfect proportion
and detail that they received...