Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
Born
Maria Ludwig Michael Mies

(1886-03-27)March 27, 1886
DiedAugust 17, 1969(1969-08-17) (aged 83)
Citizenship
  • Germany (1886–1944)
  • United States (1944–1969)
OccupationArchitect
Spouse
Adele Auguste Bruhn
(m. 1913; sep. 1918)
Children4
Awards
Buildings

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (/ms ...r/ MEESS-...-ROH; German: [ˈluːtvɪç ˈmiːs fan deːɐ̯ ˈʁoːə]; born Maria Ludwig Michael Mies; March 27, 1886 – August 17, 1969) was a German-American architect, academic, and interior designer.[1] He was commonly referred to as Mies, his surname. He is regarded as one of the pioneers of modern architecture.

In the 1930s, Mies was the last director of the Bauhaus, a ground-breaking school of modernist art, design and architecture.[2] After Nazism's rise to power, with its strong opposition to modernism, Mies emigrated to the United States. He accepted the position to head the architecture school at what is today the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT).

Mies sought to establish his own particular architectural style that could represent modern times. His buildings made use of modern materials such as industrial steel and plate glass to define interior spaces. He is often associated with his fondness for the aphorisms "less is more" and "God is in the details".

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference obit was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Dyckhoff, Tom (November 30, 2002). "Mies and the Nazis". the Guardian. Retrieved June 20, 2018.