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Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, born Maria Ludwig Michael
Mies (March 27, 1886 – August 17, 1969) was an architect and
designer. Mies has long been considered one of the most
important architects of the 20th century. In Europe, before World War
II, Mies emerged as one of the most innovative leaders of the Modern
Movement, producing visionary projects and executing a number of
small but critically significant buildings. After emigrating to the United States
in 1938, he transformed the architectonic expression of the steel frame in
American architecture and left a nearly unmatched legacy of teaching
and building.
Born in Aachen, Germany, Mies began his architectural career
as an apprentice at the studio of Peter Behrens from 1908 to
1912. There he was exposed to progressive German culture, working
alongside Walter Gropius and Le Corbusier. Determined
to establish a new architectural style that could represent modern
times just as Classical and Gothic had done for their own eras, Mies
began to develop projects that, though most remained unbuilt, rocketed
him to fame as a progressive architect.
His dramatic modernist debut was his stunning competition proposal
for the all-glass Friedricstrasse skyscraper in 1921. He continued with a
whole series of pioneering projects, including the temporary German
Pavilion for the Barcelona exposition (often called the Barcelona Pavilion)
in 1929. In the 1930s he joined the avant-garde Bauhaus design school as
director, but faced with growing Nazi political pressure decided
to emigrate to America in 1938.
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
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