Ludwig Mies
Ludwig Mies
Born Maria Ludwig Michael Mies and known professionally as Ludwig Mies van der Rohe or simply Mies, this German architect was responsible for such modernist masterpieces as the Barcelona Pavilion and the Czech Republic's Villa Tugendhat.
ProfessionArchitect
Date of Birth27 March 1886
buildings greater structural wisdom
Where can we find greater structural clarity than in the wooden buildings of old? Where else can we find such unity of material, construction and form? here, the wisdom of whole generations is stored.
stick
If there really is no new way to be found, we are not afraid to stick with the old one that we found previously. So, I do not make every building different.
building cannot save towns wonderful
You cannot save wonderful towns. You can only save wonderful towns by building new ones.
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.
dominates future great historical movement movements present represent rooted shape technology tends
Technology is rooted in the past. It dominates the present and tends into the future. It is a real historical movement - one of the great movements which shape and represent their epoch.
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.
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.
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.
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.