Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
Ludwig Mies van der Rohewas a German-American architect. He is commonly referred to and was addressed as Mies, his surname. Along with Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius and Frank Lloyd Wright, he is widely regarded as one of the pioneers of modern architecture...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionArchitect
Date of Birth27 March 1886
CountryUnited States of America
consider decisive discovered evaluate form life point result shows starting whether
We do not evaluate the result but the starting point of the creative process. Precisely, this shows whether the form was discovered by starting from life, or for its own sake. That is why I consider the creative process so essential. Life for us is the decisive factor.
deepening despite efforts life oriented remain tendency time toward wholly
The tendency of our time is wholly oriented toward the secular. The efforts of the mystics will remain episodes. Despite a deepening of our conceptions of life, we will build no cathedrals.
former latter life mere
The unformed is not worse than the over-formed. The former is nothing; the latter is mere appearance. Real form presupposes real life.
everybody insisted life man
What would life be like if everybody insisted you must have actually built such-and-such a thing by yourself? I'd be an old man and have nothing to show for the aging.
attempt beings beware bring color disrupt higher houses human interior life nature shall
Nature, too, shall live its own life. We must beware not to disrupt it with the color of our houses and interior fittings. yet we should not attempt to bring nature, houses, and human beings together into a higher unity.
cannot cause change changed life physical
We have to know that life cannot be changed by us. It will be changed. But not by us. We can only guide the things that can cause physical change.
carrying designs developed life practical
Most of our designs are developed long before there is a practical possibility of carrying them out. I do that on purpose and have done it all my life. I do it when I am interested in something.
age aims architecture cannot chaos clearly conceived confident destined foundation impact powerful remain simple space truth until
Architecture is always the will of the age conceived as space - nothing else. Until this simple truth is clearly recognized, the struggle over the foundation of a new architecture confident in its aims and powerful in its impact cannot be realized; until then, it is destined to remain a chaos of uncoordinated forces.
interested saw sullivan
In 1912, when I was working in The Hague, I first saw a drawing by Louis Sullivan of one of his buildings. It interested me.
chicago forth rarely work
I really don't know the Chicago School. You see, I never walk. I always take taxis back and forth to work. I rarely see the city.
work
Generally, I think my work has so much influence because of its reasonableness.
chance clarity creative discipline education guide lead opinion rational road students true work
Education must lead us from the irresponsible opinion to true responsible judgment. It must lead us from chance and arbitrariness to rational clarity and intellectual order. Therefore, let us guide our students over the road of discipline from materials, through function, to creative work.
actual discovered effect glass light models ordinary
I discovered by working with actual glass models that the important thing is the play of reflections and not the effect of light and shadow, as in ordinary buildings.
hence material trade
Industrialization of the building trade is a question of material. Hence the demand for a new building material is the first prerequisite.