Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

Date of Birth: March 27, 1886

Zodiac Sign: Aries

Date of Death: August 17, 1969

Biography

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, born Maria Ludwig Michael Mies, was a pioneering German-American architect who became one of the most influential figures in modern architecture. Born on March 27, 1886, in Aachen, Germany, Mies began his career working in his father’s stone carving business before moving to Berlin to work with interior designer Bruno Paul. He achieved his first significant architectural experience with Peter Behrens, an influential architect and designer of the time. Mies van der Rohe later established his own practice and became known for his minimalist and functional design principles. He coined the famous architectural aphorisms “less is more” and “God is in the details,” which became guiding principles in the modernist architecture movement. Mies emigrated to the United States in 1937, where he served as the head of the architecture school at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. Some of his most famous works include the Barcelona Pavilion, the Seagram Building in New York City, and the Farnsworth House in Illinois. Mies van der Rohe’s approach to architecture emphasized clarity and simplicity, aiming to create open spaces defined by structural order and precision. Mies van der Rohe passed away on August 17, 1969, in Chicago, Illinois, but his legacy continues to influence architects and designers around the world.

5 Interesting Facts about Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

1. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1963.

2. He originally changed his name from Ludwig Mies to Ludwig Mies van der Rohe to sound more aristocratic, adding “van der Rohe” which means “from the Roe”.

3. Mies van der Rohe was the last director of the Bauhaus, a seminal modernist art and design school in Germany, before it was closed by the Nazi regime.

4. The Barcelona Pavilion, one of his most famous works, was reconstructed in the 1980s after being dismantled in 1930.

5. He is often referred to as one of the “fathers of skyscrapers” due to his pioneering work in high-rise building design.

5 Most Interesting Quotes from Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

1. “Less is more.”

2. “God is in the details.”

3. “Architecture starts when you carefully put two bricks together. There it begins.”

4. “I don’t want to be interesting. I want to be good.”

5. “We refuse to recognize problems in form, and pursue only problems of building.”

Highest Net Worth Achieved

At the peak of his career, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s net worth was estimated to be around $5 million, primarily through his architectural commissions and teaching positions.