Mies Van Der Rohe at Work

Browse Return to Previous Page       Related Subjects All Subjects Architecture

by Peter Carter and Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe

Phaidon Press

Due/Published September 1999, 192 pages, paper

ISBN 0714838969

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (18886-1969) is a leading figure in twentieth-century architecture. This book is a unique document of his philosopy of architecture, his way of working and his rigorous teaching methodology. Mies van der Rohe at Work is a new paperback reprint of a title first published in 1974, and features enhanced reproductions of the original photography. Author Peter Carter, who studied and later worked with Mies, began the book while an Associate with Mies van der Rohe's firm. Mies' structural and spatial concepts are analyzed through three building prototypes: the skeleton-frame building, both in its high- and low-rise manifestations, and the clear-span building. His most important projects are also examined within the context of urban space.

Mies also made a significant contribution to architectural education, first as Director of the Bauhaus between 1930 and 1933, and later in the USA at the Illinois Institute of Technology. The book devotes a section to the architect as educator which is illustrated with examples drawn from Mies' students at IIT. The final section traces his life from his early years as the son of a stonemason to his eventual emergence as this century's master architect of steel and glass, and includes statements by Mies and his colleagues.