Mies Van Der Rohe's non-rhetorical influence


During the early to mid-1900s, modernist architecture was commonly being linked strongly with technical innovation and standardisation. It was a new face for architecture that, in contrast with the more traditional formalist architecture, had attracted a lot of attention both positively and negatively. Not only this, but it was attacked from several different angles.


While LeCorbusier treated the new architecture as an engineering project and others like the Italians confronted it from a more traditional plain, Mies Van Der Rohe and those he influenced took a less formal stance with their work. Realising that such problems many practitioners set-out to solve were unsolvable, Mies adopted a unique flavour in his work that both worked with the present as well as embracing new technologies. For his whole career he kept to a simple theme of "less is more" and in turn set the stage for the every-growing minimalist movement. Flying in the face of a current Western obsession with presentation, this conventional and rationalist approach for architecture was totally new and broke-down many new barriers when it came to exploiting the capabilities of pre-standardised components.


Mies never liked to use the word 'design' and preferred to see his projects as 'building' projects. With this, his works were very similar, yet very different on a close scale. While works such as the Lakeside Towers in Chicago and the Seagram building in New York appeared to share a common façade treatment, the materials and fittings on a small scale varied. With the apartments, each room would be fitted with a grey shutter blind for two reasons. One was for occupant comfort and the other was to create a variation and patterning system with the façade depending on how the various tenants would have their blinds set.


The next-to-naked profile of Mies's...