Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, FAIA

Year Awarded: 1960
Born: March 27, 1886; Aachen, Germany
Died: 1969; Chicago

Quote
Less is more. God is in the details.


Projects
• 1968: New National Gallery, Berlin, Germany
• 1958: Seagram Building, New York City
• 1956: Crown Hall, Chicago
• 1951: Lake Shore Drive Apartments, Chicago
• 1950: Farnsworth House, Plano, Ill.
• 1930: Tugendhat House, Brno, Czech Republic
• 1929: Barcelona Pavilion, Barcelona, Spain
• 1927: Weissenhof Apartments, Stuttgart, Germany
• 1928: H. Lange House, Krefeld, Germany


Biography
Maria Ludwig Michael Mies began his career in his father's stone-carving business, then moved to Berlin to work with Bruno Paul. He never received any formal architectural training; he worked initially as a draftsman specializing in furniture design and rendering. In 1908 he spent four years with Peter Behrens’s design studio where he learned about design theories.

In 1912 Mies added his mother's maiden name, van der Rohe, to his own and established his private practice in Berlin. He taught architecture at the Bauhaus, serving as the director before it closed in the face of the Nazi rise to power.

In 1937 he moved to the United States, working first in Wyoming on a residential project and then moving to Chicago in 1938 to work as the head of the architecture school at the Armour Institute of Technology, later renamed the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT). He served as the director of architecture there for 20 years. His role as an educator was an important one to him; he believed that his unique ideas and perspectives on architecture could and should be taught to others. In 1938 he also set up his private practice, his first client being IIT.

Mies sought to create a new style that would usher in a new architectural age. His approach to architecture was to embrace simplicity in design, creating large simple and ordered spaces that clearly highlighted the structural framework of the building. In his designs, he carried the principles of rationalism and minimalism to new levels. The materials his buildings were constructed from were the main feature, with a focus on steel, brick, and glass. One of Mies’s most recognized projects, and one that represents his ideals, is the Farnsworth House, built between 1946 and 1951 outside Chicago.