Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
IIT Master Plan, Chicago, Illinois Aerial perspective. Early scheme
c. 1939-40
Pencil and charcoal on paper
Not on view
Mies van der Rohe emigrated from Germany to the United States in 1938, ostensibly to take up the position of head of the architecture school at the Armour Institute of Technology, Chicago (renamed the Illinois Institute of Technology shortly after his arrival there). Perhaps more important to him, though, was his understanding with the president of Armour that he would be the architect of the school's master plan for a new campus—an unprecedented opportunity for him to design an assemblage of structures in an urban center. Mies undertook preliminary studies for the campus plan between 1939 and 1941. While practicing in Berlin, Mies had been fascinated by the tall buildings of American cities. In Illinois, he developed a new architectural language that honored American steel technology and responded to the logic of the urban grid, seeking a balance between the pedestrian campus and the existing axes of the city.
75 Years of Architecture at MoMA, 2007.
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Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
American, born Germany. 1886–1969 2063 works onlineOne of the leading lights of modernist architecture, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe created a body of work—ranging from tubular steel furniture to iconic office buildings—that influenced generations of architects worldwide.
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