Book Description

The teachings of Mies van der Rohe have had a great influence on the American architect and artist Gene Summers. Thanks to state-of-the-art technology and Summers' own creative talents, he was able to help transform Mies' visions into built structures. For 16 years Gene Summers was a close colleague of Mies, working with him on many projects including the Seagram Building in New York and the Bacardi's office buildings in Cuba and Mexico. Also working independently, Summers created projects for C.F Murphy Assoc. such as the McCormick Convention Centre and the Malcolm X College in Chicago. Familiar with bronze as a building material, Summers used this knowledge to design furniture and household objects before devoting himself entirely to this area of art. This volume is the first presentation of Gene Summers' oeuvre, surveying the many areas where he was active. Phyllis Lambert, President of the International Confederation of Architectural Museums, provides an enlightening introduction to his work. ... Read more

Book Description

This major study of one of the 20th century's greatest architects reevaluates the entire body of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe's work in America. Based on considerable new research and bringing to light previously unstudied material-drawings and collages, photographs, project documents, and oral histories-Mies in America presents fresh, original, and corrective interpretations of the architect's achievements. The book includes nine essays that together offer a portrait of Mies's evolution as an artist. Packed with more than 550 illustrations, the book looks beyond Mies's most famous architectural triumphs, from the IIT campus in Chicago to the Seagram Building in New York, to probe the relationship between a seminal body of work and its cultural context. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

mvdr / grs
The book by Phyllis Lambert "Mies in America" is the most intelligent and correct interpretation of the work of this master architect that has yet appeared in book form.
It is deep in detail of all his major works in this country.
It is a necessary read for all architects and historians of contemporary architecture who seek knowledge of this major twenith century artist .
The research done for this writing puts the work considerably ahead of any other Mies publication.

A welcome focus on Van Der Rohe in America
It is a rare occasion to find such an exhaustive study done on an artists work anywhere. Although the work of Van Der Rohe will always be seen as a vital contribution to the history of architecture, the depth and focus of the essays in this catalog will certainly bring appreciation beyond a simple fetishization of Van Der Rohe's Barcelona Pavillion. The inclusion of models, sketches, historical photographs, and works of art from his time offer a multi-faceted explanation of his works and their importance. It is a book that is not only scholarly in nature but also has a beauty that will engross the reader whether they take the time to read the essays or not. The book gets better the more you look at it and the final essay by Koolhaas offers a refreshing and pointed critique of the role of the conservator of Mies' work and how alive his work is. In this age where high modernism has been reduced to style without context and weight this book takes one of its best practitioners, shakes the dust the things that Van Der Rohe created, and offers us a stellar view of a brilliant contribution to American life. ... Read more

Amazon.com

This paperback reprint of a book initially published in 1974 delves into the ideology behind many of Mies van der Rohe's most famous architectural marvels, including the Seagram Building in New York City and the Lake Shore Drive Apartments in Chicago. Van der Rohe, father of the glass and steel modernist skyscraper, affected his field more dramatically than most of his contemporaries. From his earliest years as an apprentice architect in Germany in the first decade of the 20th century, van der Rohe pursued a clear set of ideals about the nature of building. Peter Carter, a student of and later staff architect for van der Rohe, guides readers through his mentor's commitment to structure as the determining factor of form and architecture as an illustration of its civilization. It may seem old hat to today's readers that form follows function, but the notion was very avant-garde during the middle of the century, when van der Rohe was at his height. The book is filled with photographs, building statistics, architectural drawings, and models that paint a clear picture of the philosophy behind these buildings that are such emblems of grace and strength. Quotes from van der Rohe himself--peppered throughout--are particularly insightful: "It is often thought that heaviness is synonymous with strength. In my opinion it is just the opposite." From his high-rise skeleton-frame buildings to landscaping to private homes, this truth is borne out. Mies van der Rohe at Work is perfectly suited for an aficionado of the great architect's work and readers who want to look at and read about great buildings. [192 pages, 300 black-and-white illustrations and biographical chronology] --J.P. Cohen ... Read more

Reviews (2)

A clear, exact and percipient M.v.d.R. document!
It is an excellent and appropriately illustrated paperback, in the format of an oeuvre complete.Eschewing flashy graphics, this book provides information about Ludwig Mies van der Rohe's built work & projects in a clearly laid out manner, with b&w photographs, plans, sections, elevations, perspective drawings and sketches - combined with concise & straightforward text.Instead of passionate theorising and rich intellectualising, this Phaidon 1999 paperback reprint emphasizes upon Mies van der Rohe's way of work and his essential canon of absolute spareness and strong contours... A truly indispensable book for every architect and scholar!

The Definitive Technical Analysis of Mies's Architecture
Peter Carter, who studied under Mies at IIT, wrote this book in the early 70s, shortly after Mies died. It's been long out of print, and I paid dearly to get a copy of the original version, shortly before this rerelease was announced. A lot has happened in architecture since it was written and yet Mies's best work still shines as brightly. For anyone with an interest in Mies in particular, or modern architecture in general, whether as a professional or layman, this is a must-have book. ... Read more

Book Description

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, one of this century's most important and influential architects, has alternately been revered and reviled. The Presence of Mies is an interdisciplinary collection of essays that take a fresh look at the work of this controversial architect. By bringing together a group of authors from a variety of disciplines, unexpected perspectives have been brought to bear on Mies, opening up new ways of thinking about his work and new possibilities for extending its influence into contemporary architecture and cultural theory. The essays discuss Mies's buildings, writings, and teaching in relation to technology, image culture, philosophy, art, and education. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Re-Modernizing Mies
This book is emblemmatic of the recent re-presentation of Mies. It is not the normative reading of his work and significance. Having fallen from grace in the 1980s, Mies was resurrected in the 90s by neo-modernist architects and architectural historians. The recent twin Mies exhibitions in New York (at MoMA and the Whitney) are byproducts of the rebirth of Mies. The essays of this book will make grand claims to position Mies van der Rohe as a misunderstood genius identified with a few seminal buildings and denigrated by association with all the pathetic copies of his work perpetrated around the world by drone architects of the International Style. Gratefully, the resurrection of Mies includes a cold, hard look at his notion of "site" and of "landscape" - however impoverished the sense of the latter might be in his usual glass-box-on-podium formula. The rationalist Mies was an invention of the purveyors of the International Style, Philip Johnson first among culprits, but also of Mies himself. His carefully crafted public persona buried many aspects of his personality and his work that are only now coming to light. It is only now that Mies is able to be seen as a putative poet of form with a troubled, albeit checkered history of surfing trends in the 1910s and 1920s (while in Berlin) till he found his place in formulating the architectural language and image of modern corporate America.

the best of the best
I really want to buy this book! So, it's very easy: it has to be available again at amazon.com ... Read more

Book Description

Mies van der Rohe Aquisgran, 1886-Chicago, 1969.Participant and director during the Bauhaus school period, his furniture designs intersect with funtionalist theories that searched for pieces with simplified lines without ornaments, turning the form of furniture into the key aesthetic feature, without adding decorative elements.Among his most characteristic designs stands out the chair Barcelona, created to furnish the German Pavillion in the 1929 Universal Exhibition, in which metallic tubes give way to steel forms.In 1938 he emigrated to the US, where he joined the Art Institute of Chicago. ... Read more

Book Description

These new titles in the Building Blocks series showcase four more icons of modern architecture, as portrayed by renowned architectural photographer Ezra Stoller. Two buildings by Frank Lloyd Wright, Fallingwater and Taliesin West, Louis Kahn's Salk Institute, and Mies van der Rohe's Seagram Building are shown in original condition, with original furnishings, as the architects intended them to be seen. Wright's integration of architecture and landscape, Kahn's dramatic yet humane monumentality, and Mies's austere elegance are revealed and preserved in Stoller's classic compositions. Small, elegant, and affordable, each volume presents the photo-graphs that made these structures famous. With 60 rich duotone plates (and 16 color plates for Taliesin West), a brief introduction, and newly drawn plans, sections, and elevations, these books constitute the essential photographic histories of the most important works of modernism. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A Powerful Little Book
In its eighty-eight (88) pages, this book packs more information, more feeling and more depth on Mies van der Rohe's classic building than most books three times it size. The text is clear and concise with photographs that grasp the meaning and context of the Seagram Building. This is a "must have" for anyone who appreciates and admires the truly timeless style of van der Rohe. ... Read more

Book Description

At number 860 Lake Shore Drive, in a prime location beside Lake Michigan, Mies van der Rohe built two apartment towers in 1948-50. The steel and glass towers, standing perpendicular to each other, have skeletal frames and are 26 stories high. The exterior consists of floor-to-ceiling windows. The Lake Shore Drive Apartments are amongst the first modern residential skyscrapers and are as such an important landmark in the history of architecture. Similar to the publication on Farnsworth House, this volume documents the development of these skyscrapers over a long period of time with informative texts by Werner Blaser and copious photographs. Texts from Mies van der Rohe himself and an essay by a resident, Masami Takayama, conveying impressions of what it is like to live there, complete this publication. ... Read more

Book Description

This fascinating work looks at the traditional architecture of China and Japan and the structures of Mies van der Rohe, one of the great masters of Modernism, uncovering the extraordinary parallels between them. Richly illustrated with impressive photographs, the book shows how architectonic wisdom and sensitivity can transcend borders, creating an architecture of harmony. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Sensational Architecture
This is a real masterpiece of a book about one of the greatest masters in architecture: Beautiful details of Mies van der Rohe`s splendid functionalism and clean sense of beauty. The inspiring features of German Bauhaus meet the pragmatism of Japanese functionalism. A true "must" for lovers of modern architecture and design... ... Read more

Book Description

The German Pavilion erected at the World Exhibition in Barcelona in 1929 was an imposing structure and a prime example of modern architecture. In this book, the author takes a lively and unconventional approach to the building, interpreting the various architectural, historical and cultural aspects surrounding the construction. He examines the physical elements such as the columns, the terrace, the free-standing walls which enclose the pavilion and form a pattern of open and closed spaces. He also considers the aesthetic elements, the noble materials used, its representative qualities and reflecting on how material, structure, space and tradition are integrated into a unity. ... Read more

Book Description

Mies van der Rohe's mastery of spatial composition remains unequalled to this day. Influenced by Gropius and Le Corbusier, he found great inspiration in glass, steel, iron, and concrete. Mies van der Rohe: Architect, provides a comprehensive analysis of this great architect's entire oeuvre and presents a detailed portfolio of 21 key works. Author Yehuda E. Safran is an architectural/art critic based in Paris and New York and is currently Adjunct Associate Professor at Columbia University.

Works include: Barcelona Pavilion, Seagram Building, Tugendhat House, Weissenhof Apartment Building, Social Service Administration Building, Farnsworth House, 860-880 Lake Shore Drive, 900-910 Lake Shore Drive, Lafayete Park, IBM Regional Office Building, New National Gallery, S.R. Crown Hall, Lange House, Esters House, Africanischestrasse Housing, and more. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Touches the 3 masters topically
Maybe the only book that attempts to compare (rather...state) the big 3. However I think that it degenerates to being a history book that just states facts that are already available in any monograph on each. There is less commentary and more facts. I guess it is a biggeners book to understand who these men were and what projects they did in their lifetime. The only good thing is that this seems to be the only place where you can read about them as a kind of a time-line.....realizing how each one affected the other.

I wish there was a more discussion and comparison/differentiation of the kind of space that these 3 were talking about and a more indepth analysis of their ideologies. Guess we have to wait for someone else to take that risky venture.

Excellent review of three amazing lives.
This book provides the reader not only with deep insight into these three great pillars of the 20th century, but also helps one understand their influence on art as well. One can see the bridge between their buildings and artists like Braque, Rothko, and those associated with De Stijl. I think it is a fine book for those who may not be familiar with these three men. It is highly readable and recommended!

An excellent book to start
This book by Peter Blake is very good if you are just beginning to know about these three iconic architects. It has everything someone who is not an architect could need to know who Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe and Frank Lloyd Wright were. If you want to go deep into the career of these architects, study their lives and works, this is a first step, and a very good one, but only that.

It is well written, entertaining and true. As a teacher, I would recommend it to architecture students as mandatory reading, best if read in the second or third year of their college years.

Even as it is a basic book, I have it on my night table.

NEVER HAS THERE BEEN A BETTER WAY TO UNDERSTAND GENIUS
This book offers a great way to understand 3 of the most amazing men in Architectural history. This book is hard to put down once started. This book is great for anyone who enjoys Architecture as a hobby, and is extremely resourceful for anyone who studies Architecture at a college level. This book in my opinion is a must have.

Super insight into three amazing individuals
An absolutely wonderful read! These men were/are fascinating. Corbu, Mies, and Wright make quite a trio--it is interesting how their lives and works intertwined. They created our world--and that's a fantastic realization! Is "less" really "more"? Find out here! ... Read more

Book Description

A historical photograph shows a room in a steel and glass building and a man which is evidently the architect Mies van der Rohe. Only the name of the photographer is known. In a manner more usually found in detective novels, the author considers the evidence given in the photograph, making deductions and gradually revealing in which room the architect is standing, in which building it is to be found, what the architect is looking at, what his stance and his gaze tell us about his person, his work. Step by step, the author systematically investigates the photograph, drawing fascinating conclusions and making astonishing revelations about the architecture, the man and his character from this one photograph. Hishypothesis is illustrated and supported by further visual material. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

A wonderful book
This book is a jewel. Ricardo Daza examines a picture asking himself where is Mies in the Crown Hall? The deductive process allows us to know who was Mies Van der Rohe and how he thought on Architecture.
Do not less pass the opportunity and buy this book. Wonderful.

Buscando a Mies
As architect I highly recommend this book. And as a friend of Ricardo I have been witness of all the Sherlock Holmesque deductions, presumptions and findings. Leaded by Master Pep Quetglas in Barcelona's Escuela Tecnica de Arquitectura, 'Looking for Mies' is surrounded by a Walter Benjamin theory about the spirit of history its interpretation and how not follow the "History of the Lords" printed in megalomaniac books. This time, one photograph could be the excuse to review a lot of singularities of architect's behavior and his exceptional work.
Using the facts in a supossed defined place a photo was taken. Through the photographer's eye, our position sense and deductional processes will help us to find no only where was Mies in a building, but a beautiful methodology inspired by John Berger that give to us the opportunity to perform how Mies and his architecture want to be watched and experienced.
This work would be the first step of a PHD thesis about another one grand: Le Corbusier. Only have to say is Ricardo Daza is a colombian talent to keep eye forward. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (2)

My Personal Review and Plea for a Reprint of this Gem
As a fan of modernism and a resident in a Mies Van Der Rohe-designed Commonwealth Plaza building in Chicago, I have an acute appreciation for Mies' vision and mastery of form and function in architecture. I borrowedthis book from a friend and was mesmerized by the depth in which Mr.Schulze chronicled some of Mies' best works. I received incredible insightinto the philosophy of this master architect. The text was accompanied byblack and white photos of the buildings and designs and was perfectlymatched. The black and white layout of the book focuses the reader on theform of these buildings and its importance, thereby giving a glimpse of thethoughts behind the designs. The book is incredibly comprehensive and amust for anyone with an interest in architecture and modernism.Unfortunately, the book is not in print and I have been constantlysearching for my own copy, preferably new. I hope that the University ofChicago Press, itself part of a highly-regarded academic institution, toquickly offer a reprint of this valuable book. I would love to obtain ahardcopy version, as I strongly feel that this is a collection-qualitybook.

A thorough look at the mysterious Mies Van der Rohe
While much is known about the works or Mies van der Rohe, little is ever revealed about the man himself. After reading Franz Schulze's book I found myself reflecting quite deeply on my own direction in the great field ofArchitecture.

Schulze gives readers a honest perspective on themysterious personality of Mies. He tells much about his marital life, hisrelationship with his daughters, and his political life; three aspects ofthe man which had significant influence on his career.

In the end Mies ispainted as one who did what was necessary to become great, but never lostsight of the true essence of arguably the most influential of all artforms.

Schulze appears to have a deep respect for Mies and is thereforevery frank in this book. However, he is not merely spouting rhetoric. Muchof the biography is based on interviews with those close to Mies, includinghis grandson, Dirk Lohan, who himself is a successful architect in theChicago area. ... Read more

Book Description

The career and built works of this enigmatic and fascinating architect are carefully charted from his early work on housing design and high-rise offices in Berlin to his later and most famous work in Chicago, Detroit, Montreal and New York. Original illustrations from the architect's archives complement the excellent text. Spon's ARCHITECTURE COLLECTION presents the work of historic and contemporary masters of architecture in clear well-illustrated text, accessible to non-specialists. This appealing series of monographs, now available in English, is launched by books on two great historic figures of the century, Frank Lloyd Wright and Mies van der Rohe and two award-winning contemporary architects, Sir Norman Foster and Alvaro Siza. ... Read more

Book Description

This in-depth look at Mies van der Rohe's early career is the first to examine the architect's work in Europe in terms of specific historical and cultural context, rather than the more abstract and formal arguments of the International Style. While earlier studies have described a fundamental break between Mies's neo-classical work prior to 1919 and the more avant-garde work of the 1920s, recent research demonstrates that the transformation was much more gradual. Here 11 scholars and architectural historians explore particular aspects of Mies's work, together shedding new light on the continual interplay of tradition and innovation, nature and abstraction, in the evolution of his design theories and methods. With a wealth of photographs and drawings, many not previously published, this book conveys for the first time the dynamic intellectual ferment of this formative period in the life of one of architecture's towering figures. Published to accompany a groundbreaking 2001 exhibition at The Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Essays by Barry Bergdoll, Vittorio Magnago Lampugnani, Detlef Mertins, Wolf Tegethoff, Fritz Neumeyer, Jan Maruhn, Andres Lepik, Wallis Miller, Rosemarie Haag Bletter andJean-Louis Cohen and Terence Riley.
Introduction by Terence Riley. ... Read more

Book Description

There is no shortage of books about Le Corbusier, or Mies van der Rohe, or De Stijl.This one is different, however, in a number of ways.First, it does not treat them as separate subjects, but in relation to each other.While their response to De Stijl throws some new light on Le Corbusier and Mies, it is above all De Stijl who can be defined in relation to them.Second, the purpose is to excavate the philosophical foundations of their work, rather than to merely describe and discuss the work itself.Third, Padovan looks for connections between the aims and ideals of the 1920s and such "post-modern" concerns as the creation of habitable "places" and the survival of the historical city. ... Read more

Book Description

Old Europe is beginning to show signs of renewed vitality, to judge from the results of this latest edition of the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture: Mies van der Rohe Award 2003. Not only were 269 works selected; not only are the number of competing countries steadily increasing, especially in Eastern Europe; but the standard of the entries, particularly of the winning projects and the 40 runners-up, are arguably the most impressive ever. Of special note is the predominance of projects that address new sites and/or new programs. The winning project encompasses all this and more: Zaha Hadid's tram station in Strasbourg is at once a strategy, something open-ended, playful, imperfect, intelligent, and playful. But it is also resolved and unafraid to identify with conventional architectural qualities. Additionally, this year's jury has singled out Jürgen Mayer as the most promising young designer in Europe for his first work, the Scharnhauser Park town hall. Other works shortlisted by the jury include the Chassé Park Apartments by Xaveer De Geyter Architects, the Palais de Tokyo by Lacaton & Vassal Architects, and Hagen Island by MVRDV. Accompanying photographs and plans of the 41 nominated projects are essays by some of architecture's most important critics.

Essays by Aaron Betsky, Eduard Bru, David Chipperfield, Matthias Sauerbruch and Deyan Sudjic.

Flexi-bound, 6.5 x 9.5 in./304 pgs / 400 color. ... Read more