Mies van der Rohe – Pioneer of Modern Architecture
August 13th, 2009
Seagram Building
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe is regarded as one of the leading pioneers of Modern Architecture. He lived between 1886-1969 and during that time his designs encompassed urban and corporate buildings around the world, as well as private residences, educational institutions and even chairs that are extremely popular and still considered designer pieces of furniture.
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe began his career working in his father’s stone masonry business. He went on to practice architecture in Berlin where he was an apprentice at the studio of Peter Behrens, and later he served as the last director of the famous Bauhaus school. In Germany he built the Friedrichstraße skyscraper in 1921, which at the time was the first structure of its kind, designed entirely from steel and glass. (Picture of the Friedrichstraße skyscraper ).
Mies went on to construct the Barcelona Pavilion and the Villa Tugendhat (1929 & 1930) which were also constructed of glass and steel. These works inspired the style that was adopted by corporate and residential buildings in the United States. Some of these buildings included the Seagram Corporation building in New York City which in turn inspired other corporations in New York and other cities to adopt this modern style, the Lake Shore Drive Apartments in Chicago which is a set of towers dubbed the world’s first all-glass-and-steel apartment building, and a number of private residences such as the famous Farnsworth House in Plano, Illinois).
