The Barcelona Pavilion is probably the most famous and respected Mies van der Rohe building. Other key buildings by Mies include the Farnsworth House, the Tugendhat House in the Czech Republic, Crown Hall at IIT and Lake Shore Apartments in Chicago.


Barcelona Pavilion - photograph © adrian welch

Mies van der Rohe : Barcelona Pavilion
Reconstrucció del Pavelló de Representació d’Alemanya a l’Exposició de Barcelona
The building is also known as the ´German Pavilion´ or 'Mies van der Rohe Pavilion'
Hill of Montjuic, southwest Barcelona
1929; reconstructed 1983-86
Mies van der Rohe, Architect

van der Rohe was interested in developing free flowing space and this is done using walls as planes in isolation, joined by sliding elements or glass. Thus the wall is expressed as a single element with space flowing around it. The majority of the building is constructed out of cream-coloured travertine which gives the building a luxurious feel and aids the perception of spaciousness.


photo © adrian welch

An influential building by Mies is the Farnsworth House, USA:

Mies van der Rohe : Farnsworth House, Illinois

Mies van der Rohe building image © gm+ad architects


Another key building by Mies van der Rohe is the Seagram Building in New York:

Seagram Building
375 Park Avenue, New York
1954-58
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Architect; Philip Johnson
Philip Johnson became an associate for Mies van der Rohe on the Seagram Building in 1955: he worked on interiors such as the Four Seasons Restaurant.
Seagram Building

Tugendhat House
Brno, Czech Republic
1930
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Architect


photograph © adrian welch
Togendhat house

The Tugendhat House is - for me - one of the best buildings I've visited, whilst on a trip to Prague with Eva Jiricna Architects. With its floor-to-soffit glazing that electronically slid into the walls below to the key entertaining spaces, its beautiful use of materials and tightly-controlled plan the house is a joy. The red onyx wall is orientated orthogonally but also with an eye to the sunsets: it glows a deep red colour with speckles of black and white where the onyx contains other stones and small holes.

Mies van der Rohe emigrated to the USA in 1938

Buildings in America:

Crown Hall + IIT Masterplan, Chicago, Illinois
1940-
Farnsworth House, Plano, Illinois
1950
Lake Shore Apartments, Chicago, Illinois
1951
Seagram Building, New York
1958


image © gm+ad architects

Mies van der Rohe - American architecture

Mies van der Rohe Buildings in the USA open to the public: -
Farnsworth House
14520 River Road, Plano, Illinois, USA
1950

Crown Hall - IIT
College of Architecture building, Illinois Institute of Technology
3360 South State St, Chicago, Illinois
Mies van der Rohe with Pace Associates & C. F. Murphy Associates

IIT Masterplan
Mies van der Rohe
1940
Illinois Institute of Technology - Website: www.iit.edu
Building close by:
New Student Center
Rem Koolhaas / Office of Metropolitan Architecture (OMA)

Seagram Building
375 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10152
1958
Details & proportions influenced by Lake Shore Drive in Chicago
Open to the public: Seagram Gallery + Four Seasons Restaurant
Tours: every Tue, 3 pm
Seagram Building - Contact: +1 212 572 7000

Mies van der Rohe - Illinois Institute of Technology Buildings

Mies van der Rohe Building in the USA not open to the public:
860-880 Lake Shore Drive Apartments, Chicago, Illinois
1948-51

Other Mies van der Rohe Buildings (chronological):
Wolf House, Guben, Germany/Poland 1926
Hermann Lange House, Krefeld, Germany 1928
Josef Esters House, Krefeld, Germany 1930
Karl Lemke House - Landhaus Lemke, Berlin, Germany 1932/33
Toronto Dominion Centre, Toronto, Canada 1967
Mellon Hall of Science, Pittsburgh, Pennslyvania, USA 1968
Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin, Germany 1968
IBM Building, Chicago, Illinois, USA 1971
Chicago Federal Center, Chicago, Illinois, USA 1974


photo © adrian welch



Mies van der Rohe Architecture (alphabetical):
Barcelona Pavilion, Barcelona, Spain
Chicago Federal Center, Chicago, Illinois, USA
Crown Hall + IIT Masterplan, Chicago, Illinois, USA
Farnsworth House, Plano, USA
IBM Building, Chicago, USA
Lake Shore Apartments, Chicago, Illinois, USA
Landhaus Lemke, Berlin, Germany
Mellon Hall of Science, Pittsburgh, Pennslyvania, USA
Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin, Germany
Seagram Building, New York, USA
Toronto Dominion Centre, Toronto, Canada
Weissenhof apartment house, Stuttgart, Germany

New York Architecture


Barcelona Pavilion photograph © adrian welch

Mies van der Rohe - Winner of RIBA Gold Medal 1959

Modern Architects
Iconic Buildings
Modern Houses
Mies van der Rohe : Barcelona Pavilion photos



National Gallery Berlin, Germany

photograph © adrian welch
Mies van der Rohe building

World Architecture : e-architect - a guide to key buildings across the globe

Comments / photos for the Mies van der Rohe page welcome: info@e-architect.co.uk

Mies van der Rohe - page : adrian welch / isabelle lomholt