ARCH162

The Seagram Building was constructed in 1956-58 by Ludwig Mies Van De Rohe. The Seagram Company was a liquor company which was based in Canada. During the 1950’s they decided that they want to build a headquarters in New York. When they visited New York City they loved the Lever House that was built and wanted something of that nature. As they searched for architects the ended up with commissioning Mies Van De Rohe. He was known for his modernist buildings such as the Barcelona Pavilion and his service as a director in the Bauhaus. This was his first project at this scale as well as an unlimited budget for construction. The Seagram Tower was the first to have a public space in front of the building for the community to hang-out and mingle. This was due to the building being pushed back on the lot in order to give tribute to the racquet and tennis club building. As it featured Romanesque architectural style. As Rohe was a big fan of classical architecture he wanted to preserve and m...

The Barcelona Pavilion became a staple of Modernism and the modern movement. Designed by Ludwig Mies Van De Rohe a German architect. The pavilioned was commissioned by Germany for the Barcelona International Exposition. Spain challenged Germany to build a small pavilion representative of their country. This exposition was to show the world that after the loss of World War I that it was becoming a power house for the coming century. The Barcelona pavilion was made using glass, steel, and various marbles. The pavilion was to accommodate the reception of King Alfonso XIII of Spain. The Barcelona Pavilion was very well received as it used modern design of a flat roof and a harmonious grid system. The marble that was used was Roman travertine, Green Alpine, Ancient Greek from Greece, and Golden Onyx from Atlas Mountains. Rohe choose marble not for their novelty but their purpose for the modern geometric styles of each marble type. One of many innovations that came from the Barcelona Pav...

CROWN HALL (1956) " Less is more " S.R. Crown Hall Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe was born in Aachen, Germany in 1886. Growing up, he was brought into his father's stone carving business and eventually started to work at local design firms. Exploring other firms and practices, he eventually crossed paths with greats like Le Corbusier and Walter Gropius. After World War I, he fled to the United States and began practicing his architecture in a different tone. Mies originally was interested in Traditionalism and ornament. His early projects conveyed historical styles and classic facades, but his shift in interest then steered him towards a more modernist approach. Eventually, Mies started to get recognition for his work and was involved in projects like the Barcelona Pavilion which was a part of the Weissenhofsiedlung, Bauhaus, IIT Masterplan and more. The project that really started to showcase Mies' understanding of structure and grid was S.R. Crown Hall, a facil...

The Farnsworth House is a steel and glass house that was designed by architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. It was built in 1951 and it was commissioned by Dr. Edith Farnsworth, a nephrologist, because she decided that it would be a good place for her to fulfill her hobbies, which were playing the violin, enjoying nature, and translating poetry. The Farnsworth House is considered one of most iconic masterpieces of the International Style of architecture. It became a part of the National Register of Historic Places in 2014 and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2016. The house is currently being owned by a historic preservation group called National Trust for Historic Preservation, and is being operated as a historic house museum. It was used as a private house for Dr. Edith Farnsworth until 2003 when it became a public museum. The Farnsworth House is located in a once rural setting on the edge of the Fox River, just south of Plano, Illinois. Plano is a small city that is l...

 S.R. Crown Hall,  Ludwig Mies van der Rohe , (Chicago, Illinois); 1950 - 1956; Other Fathers: Charles-Edouard Jeanneret-Gris and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (or Mies, as he was known) already had a distinguished career before emigrating to the United States in 1937. When he accepted an appointment to head IIT’s College of Architecture (at the time the Armour Institute of Technology) he also agreed to design a master plan for the school’s campus. Mies sought to create a style that reflected the mechanical spirit of the age, and this drive permeated both the curriculum and the buildings he created at IIT. The Building The two-level building is configured as a pure rectangular form, 220 ft. by 120 ft. by 18 ft. tall. The enclosed space is column free with four six ft. steel plate girders welded to eight H-columns. These girders suspend the roof in a single plane to form a primary structure.  While the low...