Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (March 27, 1886 – August 17, 1969)

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe is regarded as one of the most influential architects in history. Even though he is known for designing some of the early 20th centuries most iconic chairs (including the Barcelona and Brno chair), it was the complete design of spaces that was his true passion which he would pursue with a very pure minimalist modern approach throughout his career.

Ludwig was a German national and would serve as the last director of the Bauhaus before it was forced to close down by Nazi pressure. Frustrated and unhappy, he emigrated to the United States in 1933 where he was appointed as the head of architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. There he would be appointed to many major city and corporate projects, and through his teachings – bring the Bauhaus methodology and approach to a new generation of American architects. Many of his achievements in creating a teachable architecture language that can be used to express the modern technological era survives until today.

Over the last twenty years of his life, Mies developed and built his vision for a “skin and bones” architecture, still championing his modern ethos. Mies sought to create free and open spaces, with a structural order but minimal presence. A feat he achieved with many of his spaces.