From a mason’s apprentice to the most famous architect of the modern age. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s live should have been pictured long ago! Being very talented in drawing but without ever having studied architecture he moves to Berlin where he works for Peter Behrens. There he meets Walter Gropius and soon he begins to plan his own houses.
After World War I he starts to rely on steel structures which allow him glass facades as well as light and airy spaces. This marks the departure into a new era – die Moderne (Modernism)! In 1929 he builds the world famous “Barcelona Pavilion” for the 1929 Barcelona International Exposition.
When it comes to furniture design the MR Chair (1927) represents some of the earliest steel furniture designs by Mies van der Rohe.
Before World War II Mies van der Rohe emigrates to the United States of America where he builds the Farnsworth House in Illinois, the Chicago Federal Complex or the Seagram Building in New York City and becomes – world-famous!
Many of his designs are still available today and also his architecture is still admired all around the world and a must visit for every architecture and design lover!
Images: Oxide Architecture, LIFE, Piranesi, The World Architecture Map, Arch Daily
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