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Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

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The New National Gallery in Berlin, a modern museum building with a colorful sculpture by Alexander Calder.

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (born Maria Ludwig Michael Mies; March 27, 1886 – August 17, 1969) was a German and American architect, academic, and interior designer. He was called Mies, using his surname. Today, he is seen as one of the pioneers of modern architecture.

In the 1930s, Mies was the last director of the Bauhaus, an important school of modernist art, design, and architecture in Germany. When Nazism came to power, Mies moved to the United States in 1937 or 1938. He then led the architecture school at what is now the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT).

Mies wanted to create his own style of architecture that showed the spirit of modern times. His buildings often used modern materials like industrial steel and plate glass to shape the spaces inside. He is famous for two simple ideas: "less is more" and "God is in the details".

Early career

Ludwig Mies was born on March 27, 1886, in Aachen, Germany. He first worked in his father's stone carving shop and then at several design firms. He moved to Berlin and joined interior designer Bruno Paul. From 1908 to 1912, he was an apprentice under Peter Behrens. He learned about modern design and German culture. During this time, he worked with famous designers like Le Corbusier and Walter Gropius, who helped shape the Bauhaus movement. Mies also helped build the Embassy of the German Empire in Saint Petersburg.

He later changed his name to Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, using a Dutch style to avoid German nobility rules. He began designing homes for wealthy families.

Personal life

In 1913, Mies married Adele Auguste Bruhn. They had three daughters named Dorothea, Marianne, and Waltraut.

Later, Mies started a relationship with designer Lilly Reich. He also had important relationships with artist Lora Marx and sculptor Mary Callery, designing a special studio for her in Huntington, New York. He also met Nelly van Doesburg again in New York and helped organize an exhibition for her late husband, Theo van Doesburg.

Transition from traditionalism to Modernism

After World War I, Mies van der Rohe started designing homes but also tried new ideas. He wanted a style that matched the modern world with factories and new technology. Old styles were being criticized because they hid modern building methods behind fancy decorations.

Many people felt that old designs were outdated. They wanted new designs that showed modern materials and structures. Mies began creating bold new designs without any decorations. In 1921, he proposed an all-glass skyscraper for Friedrichstraße.

He built his first modern house, the Villa Wolf, in 1926. Soon after, he designed Haus Lange and Haus Esters in 1928. His famous works include the German Pavilion for the Barcelona exposition in 1929 and the Villa Tugendhat in Brno, Czechoslovakia, finished in 1930.

Barcelona Pavilion in Barcelona, constructed in 1929 for the world exposition. Never intended to be permanent, it was demolished in 1930 as was typically done for exhibition structures, but it was re-erected in 1986 by a team of local architects.

Mies worked with progressive designers and joined groups like the Werkbund and the Bauhaus school. He used simple shapes and clean lines in his designs, inspired by ideas from artists in Russia and the Dutch De Stijl movement.

Emigration to the United States

Crown Hall at Illinois Institute of Technology

In 1930, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe started work on a New York apartment for his friend Philip Johnson. That year, he also became the leader of the Bauhaus school in Germany. But in 1932, the Nazis made it difficult for the school to stay open, so Mies moved it to Berlin. Sadly, the school was later closed by the Gestapo.

Mies moved to the United States in the late 1930s. He worked on buildings in Wyoming and became the head of the architecture department at the Armour Institute of Technology in Chicago. One of his most famous buildings was the Seagram Building in New York, finished in 1958.

Career in the United States

After joining the Armour Institute of Technology, Mies moved to Chicago, Illinois. When the Armour Institute combined with the Lewis Institute to become the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) in 1940, Mies stayed to lead the school's architecture department. He was asked to design new buildings and plans for the Illinois Institute of Technology Academic Campus. All the buildings he designed there are still standing today, such as Alumni Hall, the Carr Memorial Chapel, and his famous work, the S.R. Crown Hall, which houses IIT's School of Architecture.

In 1944, Mies became a United States citizen. Over the next thirty years, he worked as an architect in America, creating simple and clear designs. He aimed to build spaces that felt open and could be used in many ways, using steel frames and large windows. His early work at IIT and for a developer named Herbert Greenwald showed Americans a style that built on older designs from the Chicago School. His architecture, influenced by the German Bauhaus and the International Style, became popular for schools, government buildings, and big companies.

Notable buildings

Chicago Federal Complex

The Chicago Federal Center Plaza, also called Chicago Federal Plaza, brought together three different-sized buildings. These were the mid-rise Everett McKinley Dirksen United States Courthouse, the high-rise John C. Kluczynski Building, and the Post Office building. The buildings used strong steel and concrete for support. They had black-painted steel frames and bronze-tinted glass windows. Everything followed a precise grid pattern, making the area feel organized and connected.

Edith Farnsworth House

Main article: Edith Farnsworth House

Chicago Federal Center, built 1964–1974

From 1946 to 1951, Mies van der Rohe created the Edith Farnsworth House, a special weekend home for Dr. Edith Farnsworth, near Chicago. The house is a glass shelter raised above a flood area by the Fox River, with forests and open fields around it. Inside, the white frame and glass walls let in lots of light and nature views. There are no walls dividing the space, just a wood fireplace area. The house is now a public museum, owned by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

860–880 Lake Shore Drive

Main article: 860–880 Lake Shore Drive Apartments

Built between 1948 and 1951, the 860–880 Lake Shore Drive Apartments became models of modern design after World War II. These tall buildings have walls made of steel and glass, very different from older apartment houses made of brick. Mies made a series of four apartment buildings with simple shapes, raised on supports with a glass lobby below. This design made the ground floor feel bright, open, and free. It influenced many later tall buildings.

Edith Farnsworth House (1946–1951)

Seagram Building

Main article: Seagram Building

The Seagram Building is now famous, but Mies had to convince people that his design would work well. The building has a tall tower with lots of open space around it at the bottom. The walls are bronze with special steel frames, and inside there is a fancy restaurant called the Four Seasons Restaurant. The Seagram Building helped change how buildings were designed in cities.

McCormick House

During 1951–1952, Mies designed the McCormick House in Elmhurst, Illinois for a developer named Robert Hall McCormick, Jr. This one-story house used steel, glass, and brick, copying ideas from his bigger apartment buildings. It was moved and changed to become part of a museum.

860–880 Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, Illinois (1949–1951)

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

Mies designed two buildings for the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. He made plans for the museum in 1953 and built two parts — Cullinan Hall in 1958 and the Brown Pavilion in 1974. These buildings show his simple, clean style and are some of the few museums he designed.

Two buildings in Baltimore, MD

The One Charles Center, finished in 1962, was one of the first modern buildings in Baltimore's downtown area. The Highfield House, built in 1964 near the Johns Hopkins Homewood campus, started as a rental apartment building and later became a place people could buy. Both buildings are now important historic spots.

National Gallery, Berlin

Seagram Building

Mies's final project was the Neue Nationalgalerie art museum for the Berlin National Gallery. The top part of the museum has big steel columns and a roof that sticks out, with glass walls all around. It shows Mies's love for open, flexible spaces inside buildings.

Mies Building at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana

Main article: Mies Building for the Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design

In 1952, a student group asked Mies to design a building at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. The plan was not built when he was alive, but in 2019 the university started building it, and it opened to the public in 2022.

Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library

Main article: Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library

Mies designed the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library in Washington, DC. It was finished in 1972, three years after Mies passed away. This library is the main building for the District of Columbia Public Library and is the only library Mies ever built. It is also his only building in Washington D.C.

Furniture

Mies, often with help from Lilly Reich, made modern furniture using new factory ways. Some of his well-known designs are the Barcelona chair, the Brno chair, and the Tugendhat chair. People still love these chairs and tables today, and the Knoll company makes them.

Furniture in the Tugendhat House, including Tugendhat chairs

His furniture stands out because of its careful craftsmanship. He used rich fabrics like leather together with shiny chrome frames. By separating the parts that support the furniture from the parts you sit on, his designs feel light and airy, often using cantilevers.

Educator

Interior of Farnsworth House

In 1953, a writer named Elizabeth Gordon wrote about one of Mies's buildings. She thought his style was too simple and cold.

Mies was a very important teacher. He led the Bauhaus school and later taught at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. He changed how architecture was taught there, starting with simple drawing and building skills before moving to more advanced planning. Mies believed his way of designing could be used for all kinds of modern buildings. He spent a lot of time teaching and helping students learn his design methods. He also helped start the Graham Foundation in Chicago.

Death and legacy

In 1961, Columbia University honored Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and other important architects. They talked about design and cities.

Mies's buildings, like the Farnsworth House, inspired many architects. In 1963, he received the US Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Mies passed away in 1969. His ashes were placed with other famous architects in Chicago's Graceland Cemetery.

After that, new styles of architecture began, moving away from his famous idea of "less is more."

Archives

The Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Archive is at the Museum of Modern Art. It started in 1968. The archive has many drawings, photographs, and documents about Mies van der Rohe's work. Some materials are also at the Ryerson & Burnham Libraries at the Art Institute of Chicago, the University of Illinois Chicago, the Canadian Centre for Architecture in Montreal, the Newberry Library in Chicago, and the Library of Congress in Washington D.C.

Tributes

There is a street named after Ludwig Mies van der Rohe in his hometown of Aachen. The street is called Mies-van-der Rohe-Straße.

He also inspired a character in Brady Corbet’s film, called The Brutalist.

List of works

This section lists important buildings designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe throughout his career.

Early career in Europe (1907–1938)

These are some of the homes and public buildings he designed in Germany and other parts of Europe:

Buildings after emigration to the United States (1939–1960)

After moving to the United States, Mies designed many important buildings, including campuses, homes, and offices:

Late career Worldwide (1961–69)

In his later years, Mies designed buildings around the world:

Buildings on the Illinois Institute of Technology Campus (1939–1958)

These buildings are part of the Illinois Institute of Technology Campus in Chicago:

  • 1943 Minerals & Metals Research Building – Research
  • 1945 Engineering Research Building – Research
  • 1946 Alumni Memorial Hall – Classroom
  • 1946 Wishnick Hall – Classroom
  • 1946 Perlstein Hall – Classroom
  • 1950 I.I.T. Boiler Plant – Academic
  • 1950 Institute of Gas Technology Building – Research
  • 1950 American Association of Railroads Administration Building (now the College of Music Building) – Administration
  • 1952 Mechanical Engineering Research Building I – Research
  • 1952 Carr Memorial Chapel – Religious
  • 1953 American Association of Railroads Mechanical Engineering Building – Research
  • 1953 Carman Hall at IIT – Dormitory
  • 1955 Cunningham Hall – Dormitory
  • 1955 Bailey Hall – Dormitory
  • 1955 I.I.T. Commons Building
  • 1956 S. R. Crown Hall – Academic, College of Architecture
  • 1957 Physics & Electrical Engineering Research Building – Research
  • 1957 Siegel Hall – Classroom
  • 1953 American Association of Railroads Laboratory Building – Research
  • 1958 Metals Technology Building Extension – Research

Images

A beautiful historic villa with a lovely patio, showcasing early 20th-century architecture.
A beautiful interior view of Villa Tugendhat, showcasing its unique architectural design and decor.

Related articles

Illinois Institute of Technology
Bauhaus
Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library
Aachen
Chicago

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