Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

Lore & Background

Mies began his career in his father's stone carving shop and later apprenticed under Peter Behrens from 1908 to 1912, working alongside Le Corbusier and Walter Gropius. He renamed himself by adding 'van der' and his mother's maiden name 'Rohe', using the Dutch 'van der' because the German 'von' was restricted to nobility. After World War I, while still designing traditional neoclassical homes, he developed visionary modernist projects, including the 1921 Friedrichstraße skyscraper proposal and the 1922 Glass Skyscraper. His first fully modernist house is generally considered the Barcelona Pavilion (1929) or Villa Tugendhat (1930), though the Villa Wolf (1926) was a traditional brick house with some modernist elements. He followed with Haus Lange and Haus Esters in 1928, culminating in the Barcelona Pavilion and Villa Tugendhat.

Mies joined the avant-garde magazine G in 1923, became architectural director of the Werkbund, organized the Weissenhof Estate exhibition, and was a leading member of the architectural association Der Ring, which was founded by a group including Hugo Häring. He served as the last director of the Bauhaus, moving it to Berlin after the Nazis forced it from Dessau in 1932. The school was raided by the Gestapo in April 1933, and Mies and the faculty voted to close it in July 1933. He and Gropius joined the Reich Culture Chamber and entered Nazi architectural competitions; Mies's design for a Reich Bank building received a prize but was rejected by Hitler. He emigrated to the United States in 1937 or 1938.

In his personal life, Mies married Adele Bruhn in 1913; they separated in 1918 after having three daughters. He had a relationship with designer Lilly Reich until his move to the U.S., and from 1940 until his death, artist Lora Marx was his primary companion. He also had romantic relationships with sculptor Mary Callery and Nelly van Doesburg.

Reader's Guide

Mies van der Rohe's significance lies in his role as a pioneer of modern architecture who sought to establish a style representing modern times using industrial steel and plate glass. His aphorisms 'less is more' and 'God is in the details' encapsulate his approach. As the last director of the Bauhaus, he oversaw its closure under Nazi pressure, then emigrated to the United States, where he headed the architecture school at the Illinois Institute of Technology. His European masterworks—the Barcelona Pavilion and Villa Tugendhat—exemplify his use of simple rectilinear forms, clean lines, and the extension of space. His legacy includes influencing generations of architects through his emphasis on rational problem-solving and the expression of modern materials and structure, though his designs were sometimes rejected by the Nazi regime.

Did You Know?

• Mies renamed himself by adding 'van der' and his mother's maiden name 'Rohe' because the German 'von' was restricted to nobility.
• He fathered a son out of wedlock during his military service in 1917.
• His first US commission was the IIT campus or Resor House project after emigrating in 1937/1938.
• He designed an artist's studio in Huntington, New York, for sculptor Mary Callery.

Notable Quotes (Wikiquote)

"Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (March 27, 1886 – August 17, 1969), was a German architect and designer." — Ludwig Mies van der Rohe "adopted by 1947 as a precept for Minimalist design and architecture." — Ludwig Mies van der Rohe "I don´t want to be interesting, I want to be good." — Ludwig Mies van der Rohe "Architecture is the will of an epoch translated into space." — Ludwig Mies van der Rohe