Customer Reviews

Mies Van Der Rohe At Work

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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.

This copiously illustrated survey of all the major buildings and projects on 192 pages measuring 11.50 x 9.88 inches includes 31 listed projects, several chapters illustrated with additional projects, 400 B&W illustrations, mostly photos, but also technical ones (plans, sections, details, elevations, etc.), 33 pages with educational notes, biographical chronology, etc. A few photos are too big, i.e. do not have enough content for their size, and a few details are too small, simply not legible enough, and inferior to those included in the bilingual "Mies Van der Rohe (Studio Paperback)" by Werner Blaser published under ISBN: 3764356197, though in a smaller format, but with some illustrations more legible.
CONTENTS:
PREFACE 6
1. INTRODUCTION 7
2. STRUCTURAL AND SPATIAL CONCEPTS
Three projects:
Introduction 15
Glass Skyscraper 18
Concrete Office Building 18
Brick Country House 18
Two seminal buildings:
Introduction 20
Barcelona Pavilion 22
Tugendhat House 26
Projects 1931-8:
Introduction 28
Court Houses 28
Resor House 30
Brussels Pavilion 32
Structiural and spatial concepts-summary 34
3. THREE BUILDING TYPES
Introduction 37
High-rise skeleton frame buildings:
Introduction 38
Office buildings 40
Apartment buildings 44
Three skin solutions 46
Scale 50
860 Lake Shore Drive Apartments 52
Commonwealth Promenade Apartments 56
Colonnade Apartments 58
Seagram Building 60
Toronto Dominion Bank Tower 64
U.S. Courthouse and Federal Office Building 68
Low-rise skeleton frame buildings:
Introduction 70
Metallurgical and Chemical Engineering Building at I.I.T 72
The Commons at I.I.T 74
Library and Administration Building 76
Clear span buildings:
Introduction 78
Farnsworth House 82
Crown Hall at I.I.T 86
National Theatre, Mannheim 92
National Gallery, Berlin 94
Convention Hall 100
Structure, Materials and Detailing 108
Three building types-summary 110
(including a note on building costs)
4. URBAN SPACES
Introduction 113
Illinois Institute of Technology-A Campus in the City 114
860 Lake Shore Drive Apartments 118
Lafayette Park 120
Seagram Building 126
Home Federal Savings and Loan Association of Des Moines 130
Chicago Federal Center 132
Toronto-Dominion Centre 136
Westmount Square 142
A New City Square and Office Tower in The City of London 146
Plaza detailing 152
Landscaping 154
Urban spaces-summary 156
5. EDUCATION OF ARCHITECTS 159
6. CONCLUSION 171
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 174
BUILDINGS AND PROJECTS 186
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 190
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 190
CATALOGUE OF ILLUSTRATIONS 191
INDEX 192

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!