Collectie van topdesigner Ludwig Mies van der Rohe - Buro International

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886-1969) was a German-American architect, academic and interior designer, often referred to simply as Mies. He is considered one of the pioneers of modern architecture. In the 1930s, Mies was the last director of the Bauhaus, a pioneering school for modernist art, design and architecture. After the rise of Nazism and its strong opposition to modernism, Mies emigrated to the United States. There he became head of the architecture school at the Illinois Institute of Technology.

Mies strove to establish his own distinctive architectural style, which would embody modernity. His buildings used modern materials, such as industrial steel and glass, to define the interior spaces. He is often associated with his fondness for the aphorisms "less is more" and "God is in the details."

Mies was born in 1886 in Aachen, Germany, and began his career in his father's stonemasonry and at various local design firms before moving to Berlin. There he joined the office of interior designer Bruno Paul. He began his architectural career as an apprentice in the studio of Peter Behrens from 1908 to 1912, where he was exposed to the design trends of the time and progressive German culture. He worked with Le Corbusier and Walter Gropius, who was later also involved in the development of the Bauhaus. Mies served as construction manager of the German embassy in Saint Petersburg under Behrens.

Mies changed his name as part of his transformation from son of a craftsman to architect who worked with Berlin's cultural elite. He added "van der" to his name and used the Dutch "van der" because the German form "von" was legally limited to the German nobility. He began his independent professional career designing homes for the upper class.

After the First World War, while still designing traditional neoclassical houses, Mies began a parallel experimental trajectory. He joined his avant-garde colleagues in the long-running search for a new style that would be suitable for the modern industrial era. The weaknesses of traditional styles have been criticized by progressive thinkers since the mid-19th century, mainly due to the contradictions of hiding modern building technology behind a facade of decorated traditional styles.

After World War I, Mies began pioneering projects and launched himself to the status of an architect who shaped in harmony with the spirit of the emerging modern society. He boldly abandoned any form of ornament and made a dramatic modernist entrance in 1921 with his striking design proposal for the polyhedral all-glass Friedrichstraße skyscraper, followed by a taller curved version in 1922 called the Glass Skyscraper.

Mies and Le Corbusier later recognized the lasting influence of Frank Lloyd Wright's Wasmuth Portfolio after it was exhibited in Berlin. This collection of his work had a significant impact on the development of modernism in architecture.

Mies van der Rohe left an indelible mark on modern architecture and design through his bold vision and innovative designs, and his legacy remains an inspiration for generations to come.