The only residence built by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe in America, Farnsworth House exemplifies both the central tenet of the International Style by inverting the conventions of traditional architecture, and of Mies' own design philosophy as it had evolved over the preceding four decades. Commissioned by Dr Edith Farnsworth to be used as a weekend country retreat, the house was conceived by Mies as an envelope of glass and steel floating over the Illinois Fox River flood plain. Its spare interior - an integrated living space pared down to the last detail - was intended to enable a simpler, cleaner and healthier lifestyle. With detailed drawings and specially commissioned photography, this addition to the award-winning "Architecture in Detail" series provides an in-depth and richly illustrated account of this icon of 20th-century Modernist architecture. It documents how, even before its completion in 1951, architect and client had fallen out over expenses and practical defects of the house. By the time it was sold to Lord Palumbo in 1972, Edith Farnsworth had changed many of the interior elements dictated so precisely by Mies. Following a ruinous flood in 1996, the house has been faithfully reconstructed to its original Miesian conception.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
'The Architecture in Detail series is without question one of the most beautifully illustrated and well-documented collections of monographs on individual buildings produced anywhere in the world.'
About the Author
Maritz Vandenberg was the founding Publisher of Architecture and Technology Press and has worked as Technical Editor on the Architects' Journal and as Editorial Director of Architectural Press Books. Among other publications he is a co-author of the Phaidon title Twentieth-Century Museums I: New National Gallery, and has written three design primers for architectural students and practitioners - Soft Canopies, Glass Canopies and Cable Nets. Author's Residence: London.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Classic Mies,
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This review is from: Farnsworth House (Architecture in Detail) (Paperback)
This neat little book opens with a foreward by Lord Peter Palumbo, the houses second owner, extolling the ability of this seemingly simple box to heighten one's perception of nature. He paints wonderful word pictures of his experiencing the house in various seasons and weather conditions. Further it is his opinion that as a weekend/vacation retreat it succeeds admirably.
The bulk of the book is divided into 3 parts: an essay by Maritz Vandenberg, a section of photographs and a drawing section. The essay gives an overview of Mie's career, the history of this house and provides a detailed assessment of the houses strengths and weaknesses. Also discussed are its restoration and the continuing threat posed by flooding of the adjacent Fox River. Interspersed in this section are photos and line drawings, a very nice touch being the side-by-side presentation of the floor plans of several of Mie's most important residential designs. The photographic section, entirely in color, contains a reasonably generous number of post-restoration photos. These show it outfitted with appropriate Mie's designed furniture, a must in this type of architecture. A concluding drawing section contains plans, elevations, building sections and numerous details. A word or two on the negatives which prevent me giving a 5 star rating. Vandenberg identifies Farnsworth as Mie's only built house in America, as well as his last built residence. Neither statement is true. This is especially puzzling as an appendix in this very book notes both the McCormick and Greenwald Houses postdate Farnsworth. Granted this house certainly stands at the zenith of Mie's residential efforts, but those that followed should, if only for the sake of historical accuracy, not be cast into the architectural wilderness. Next, while the photos are very well done the presentation sometimes fails us. Too often the 'artistic' composition of the page is given precedence over the information to be conveyed by the photo itself. Simply put, too much white space when the photos could have been printed larger. A couple of more shots of the interior, giving it really total coverage, also would have been nice. These quibbles aside, this book delivers a lot for a modest price.
4 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best of Mies,
By
This review is from: Farnsworth House (Architecture in Detail) (Paperback)
I bought this book to have an idea of the Farnsworth house, but it is much more detailled that i ever imagined. An essencial Mies.
2 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
excellent and helpfull for students of architecture,
By
This review is from: Farnsworth House (Architecture in Detail) (Paperback)
is an excellent book and so helpfull for the students of architecture and for the people that study the Mies van der Rohe work!!!!
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