Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

Read frame and skin

The relation of structural frame to thin enclosure is the theme. Following how columns, walls, and glass divide roles at the Barcelona Pavilion and Seagram makes it stick. Universal space: a large room not over-fixed by function. Comparing how roof and columns make “void” at Crown Hall and the Neue Nationalgalerie deepens understanding. Joints of marble, travertine, steel, and glass become the design core. At Tugendhat and Farnsworth, observe material honesty at house scale. German-born architect who later worked in the United States. Clear construction in steel and glass, universal space, and refined curtain walls internationalized modern vocabulary. After directing the Bauhaus, he taught and practiced at IIT in Chicago.