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
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.
age buildings clearly convey demands fool lack maintain time
The demands of the time for objectivity and functionality must be fulfilled. If that clearly happens, then the buildings of our day will convey the greatness of which the age is capable, and only a fool will maintain that they lack it.
achieve age artistic builders content earlier effect endeavor fail form hopeless repeatedly serve strongest talent time work
It is a hopeless endeavor to make the form and content of earlier architectural epochs usable for our time; in this, even the strongest artistic talent must fail. We see repeatedly how the outstanding builders fail to achieve an effect because their work does not serve the will of the age.
free inner time tried
After my time in Holland, an inner battle ensued in which I tried to free myself from the influence of Schinkelesque classicism.
buildings group huge modern space time
Modern buildings of our time are so huge that one must group them. Often the space between these buildings is as important as the buildings themselves.
almost among architecture art authentic cost problem quality question reached throughout time
The problem of architecture has always been the same throughout time. Its authentic quality is reached through its proportions, and the proportions cost nothing. In fact, most of them are proportions among things, not the things themselves. Art is almost always a question of proportions.
create form means nature task time work
Create form out of the nature of the task with the means of our time. This is our work.
age architecture itself materials tasks time understood vital
It must be understood that every architecture is bound to its time and manifests itself only in vital tasks and through the materials of its age. It has never been otherwise.
artistic building carrying central readily time
I see in industrialization the central problem of building in our time. If we succeed in carrying out this industrialization, the social, economic, technical, and also artistic problems will be readily solved.
analyze clear differs epoch forces motives others points respects structure three time understand
We must understand the motives and forces of our time and analyze their structure from three points of view: the material, the functional, and the spiritual. We must make clear in what respects our epoch differs from others and in what respects it is similar.
clearly ideas main objective reasons relationship scheme time took understand understood wild
It took me a long time to understand the relationship between ideas and between objective facts. But after I clearly understood this relationship, I didn't fool around with other wild ideas. That is one of the main reasons why I just make my scheme as simple as possible.
activity cultural dependent factors familiar ourselves possible spirit spiritual time understand
Just as we acquaint ourselves with materials, and just as we must understand functions, we must become familiar with the psychological and spiritual factors of the day. No cultural activity is possible otherwise, for we are dependent on the spirit of our time.
architecture depends inner time unfolding
Architecture depends on its time. It is the crystallization of its inner structure, the slow unfolding of its form.
areas avoid chicago cities large silly slums spread suburban thousands
You can use up all the slums for new development. In all the cities of the world, there are large areas of these. Also, you can avoid the spread of these silly suburban houses. Chicago has thousands of them all over the place.