Mies van der Rohe was a German-American architect during the Modernism period. He was a son of a tradesman and an apprentice to Peter Behrens. He wanted to establish a unique design style for the modern era. Mies van der Rohe valued the concepts of simplicity and clarity with a desire for each structure to appear frameless. He referred to his structures as skin and bones architecture. His concept was "Less is more".

Some methods and materials included interiors that were created using industrial steel and plate glass. He created overlap between the outside and the inside to blend them together. He valued luxurious materials such as wood and marble. He also utilized tubular metal to create chairs. Mies van der Rohe really focused on the details of the design. Interiors were open and each space flowed into the next space. The rich materials were the decoration. For example, the rich material of the wall really pops out and creates the decoration in this space.

Mies van der Rohe designed the Barcelona Pavillion in 1928. The Barcelona Exhibition introduced Mies to the world. This was the first building to fully exploit modern structural technology of steel and concrete. Along with the structure came the Barcelona chair. There were colors and textures of rich materials which provided ornamentation. This was an abstract work of art which gained an international reputation. Mies van der Rohe also designed the Farnsworth House located in Plano, Illinois. It is an all glass house that is held up only by eight structural supports. It sits in the middle of a forest and gives you a feel that you are outside even when you are inside. It is truly a beautiful piece of work, and I have never seen anything like it.  

CURRENT APPLICATIONS:

Here is a modern day application of the Barcelona Chair. You can see that the shape is still the same but there is a more modern feel to it with the negative space due to the straps instead of the cushion.
This is also a picture of a modern glass house which reminds me of the glass houses designed by Mies van der Rohe.













VIDEOS:

https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-art-history/later-europe-and-americas/modernity-ap/v/mies-van-der-rohe-seagram-building-new-york-city-1958

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8M3p9iKITaA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sD-0kEWHqA

PEER REVIEW:

Kate I: I really like how you showed Frank Lloyd Wright's version of an open office plan compared to a modern day one. It is really interesting how the idea emerged from him and it has continued to expand. You can see a difference between the two yet they are similar in the way they are set up in groups. Overall, great job showing current examples because it is really neat to see how things progress over time.

Haley B: I like how you talked about many different designers from the same period. You can see how they were similar in some ways such as incorporating glass into their designs. This was especially shown in your images that you provided. I love your examples of the modern day application because you can really tell how things have changed but it all has stemmed from their original ideas.