“Less is more” uttered and made famous by international style architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
implying that to achieve aesthetics does not necessarily need a vast number of components to
incorporate in the design but rather use simplicity as beauty. The design philosophy gave contributions
to the modern world influencing to the known minimalist architectural style which strips down the
design to its fundamental features. Less is more introduced by Mies van der Rohe was aimed toward his
style which preferred functionality which can be faintly understood in his time magazine article in 1954,
quoted “Architecture is great only when it is an expression of its time. Architecture is the battleground.
It is a struggle to find the essential factor”. Less is more as a philosophy was applied by Mies extensively
in his work ranging from residential to commercial buildings (and I trust can be applied to the full range
of project types), one of which is the German Pavilion at Barcelona which united sophisticated materials
with a fluid open plan, which together endowed the space with an unprecedented modern elegance and
a seamless flow from outdoors to indoors. Less is more was meant to design with simplicity, where so I
believe Mies also stated that “God is in the details” to entrust what he lacks (details) to the all mighty.
Architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe adopted the motto "Less is more" to describe his aesthetic
tactic of arranging the numerous necessary components of a building to create an impression of
extreme simplicity by enlisting every element and detail to serve multiple visual and functional
purposes (for example, designing a floor to also serve as the radiator, or a massive fireplace to also
house the bathroom). Designer Buckminster Fuller adopted the engineer's goal of "Doing more with
less", but his concerns were oriented towards technology and engineering rather than aesthetics. A
similar sentiment was industrial designer Dieter Rams' motto, "Less but better" adapted from Mies.
The structure uses relatively simple elegant designs; ornamentations are good rather than
many[dubious – discuss]. Lighting, using the basic geometric shapes as outlines, using only a single shape
or a small number of like shapes for components for design unity, and using tasteful non-fussy bright
color combinations, (usually natural textures and colors) and clean and fine finishes also influence a
structure's beauty. Sometimes using the beauty of natural patterns on stone cladding and real wood
encapsulated within ordered simplified structures along with real metal produces a simplified but
prestigious architecture and interior design. Color brightness balance and contrast between surface
colors can improve visual aesthetics. The structure would usually have industrial and space age
style utilities (lamps, stoves, stairs, technology, etc.) neat and straight components (like walls or
stairs) that appear to be machined with equipment, flat or nearly flat roofs, pleasing negative spaces,
and large windows to let in much sunlight.
Time, June 14,1954, "Less is More", Time Magazine, Inc., NY, USA
Mies also said, Less is More. Despite the economic connotations of this statement, Mies, like Sullivan
before him, meant this in a poetic aesthetic sense in creating the greatest effect with the least means.
Deriving aesthetics from a buildings elemental components creates the beauty Mies describes with Less
is More. This approach to architectural design can be somewhat restictive in that it limits how the
aesthetic is derived. The introduction of a building component that was purely decorative and not
elemental would be considered taboo by Mies.
From the viewpoint of E-FAB, Less is NOT More. Less is NOT a bore [3]. Less is less. "Less is More" is
probably the single most destructive phrase to come out of the modernist architectural lexicon. The
poetry of Mies was mis-interpreted and mis-used by building developers who used the phrase to justify
stripping buildings of all significant meaning as objects of art in order to build as cheaply as possible.
It is historically unfortunate that breakthroughs in the mathematical understanding of economics
emerged contemporaneously with the stylistic expression of modernism and "Less is More" became the
perverse slogan of builders driven by greed. The impact of this continues today.
Less and More should never have been equated. Less and More should create a theoretical balance. Can
More be achieved with a little less? This may tip the equilibrium out of balance. E-FAB strives to achieve
the poetry of Less and More through appropriate balance between the two. Less balances More in a
manner that retains significant meaning and the artistic soul of the building. The lesson of Less is More is
that it should have been "Less balances More".
In a Time Magazine article June 14, 1954,[7] Mies is quoted as saying "The old way was to look at
architecture as a display of forms. We concentrate on the simple, basic structure, and we believe the
structural way gives more freedom and variety. Remember, we are not trying to please people. We are
driving to the essence of things."
In the greater context of art and history, I understand. In physics, around this time, Einstein was working
to derive an single equation to explain and unify sub-atomic and universal forces. After Einstein had
shown us E=mc^2, there was a growing belief that everything could be reduced to a single equation; A
simple, beautiful, theory of everything. In an artistic way, Mies was part of this movement and "driving
to the essence of things."
However, from the viewpoint of E-FAB, pleasing people cannot be separated from achieving appropriate
balance. It is at this point, in my thinking, that Mies ceases to be a true architect and crosses over into
something that is more like sculpture than architecture. "Starchitecture" leaves me with this same
impression.
It is possible to over-derive. To reduce something to less than it's minimum constituent parts. Reduction
to a point where it is no longer itself. It may be aesthetic, but it is overall, less than it could be.
Later in the same article, Mies says Architecture is great "only when it is an expression of its time.
Architecture is the battleground. It is a struggle to find the essential factors."
LESS IN MORE WITH MINIMALIST ARCHITECTURE
Published in:
IT Professional (Volume:4 , Issue: 5 )
Date of Publication:
Sep/Oct 2002
Page(s):
48, 46 - 47
ISSN :
1520-9202
INSPEC Accession Number:
7428593
DOI:
10.1109/MITP.2002.1041178
Date of Current Version :
10 December 2002
Issue Date :
Sep/Oct 2002
Sponsored by :
IEEE Computer Society
Publisher:
IEEE
http://new-design-times.com/article/articleC47.php?ID=47
Minimalist Architecture
Less is More
In minimalist architecture the work is stripped down to its most fundamental features.
This is the motto Less is more, but these words may have different meanings: for
instance in the commercial world many insist on architecural control and minimalist
architectute is a concept for not being desempowered. Let's say that "less is more can
have an industrial goal ( do more with less) or an esthetic goal. Sometimes it has both.
Minimalism is a long tradition in the Japanese culture that dates back to the
Higashiyama culture in the XV th century, particularly in the notions of wahi and sabi,
which found beauty and depth in minimalism. Wabi and Sabi were defined as an active
aesthetical appreciation of poverty, sabi being elegant simplicity, whai quiet taste.
A loft in New York designed by the Italian architect Claudio Silvestrin. The architecture of
Claudio Silvestrin was often defined as abstract or minimalist. Light ( the source of light
is often hidden ), geometrical forms and natural material are key points in his style.
An excellent illustration of minimalism in architecture: Garden and Sea Week-End House
designed by Takao Shiotsuka
Shimada House designed by A.L.X Tokyo
Dancing living house designed by A.L.X architect
----------
Alberto Campo Baeza
Day care center for Benetton designed by the Spanish architect, Alberto Campo Baeza in
2007. Treviso, Italy
John Pawson
St Edward’s School, Oxford, England (2007-2009): "This school cricket pavilion is the
simplest of compositions with the advantage of formal clarity from every aspect."
Project architects Shingo Ozawa & Chris Masson.
Antoine Predock
The Rosenthal House was designed by Antoine Predock as a home/studio for a toy
executive, Manhattan Beach, California 1993.
- See more at: http://new-design-times.com/article/articleC47.php?ID=47#sthash.yczQVjiJ.dpuf
http://www.slideshare.net/fdjaipur/philosophies-of-mies-vander-rohe
1. TIME , LIFE, WORKS AND PHILOSOPIES OF Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Compiled by : FD
Architects Forum Gr. Floor , Ashoka apartment Bhawani Singh Road C-scheme , Jaipur -302001
Rajasthan ( INDIA) Ph. 91-0141-2743536 Email: [email protected] Web :
http://www.frontdesk.co.in/forum/
2. http://www.frontdesk.co.in/forum/ Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886- 1969) • Ludwig Mies
was born in Aachen, Nordhein Westfalen ,Germany, on March 27 1886. •No formal training in
architecture • Worked under Peter Behrens • Succeeded Gropius as Bauhaus Director • Migrated to
US and taught architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology • Designed Skyscrapers Of Steel
And Glass which became models of skyscraper design throughout the world.
3. http://www.frontdesk.co.in/forum/ “Less is more.” -van der Rohe CHARACTER OF WORKS:
• Simple rectangular forms • Open, flexible plans and multi-functional spaces • Widespread use of
glass to bring the outside in • Mastered steel and glass construction • Exposed and very refined
structural details
4. http://www.frontdesk.co.in/forum/ 1907-11 work at the offices of famed German architect
Peter Behrens. Early Works house of Alois Riehl 1906 1912 to start his own office. He immediately
received work and designed a series of home in the style of architect Karl Schinkel.
5. http://www.frontdesk.co.in/forum/ One of his greatest designs came the following year in the
German Pavilion in Barcelona in 1929. German Pavilion , Barcelona 1929
6. http://www.frontdesk.co.in/forum/ German Pavilion , Barcelona 1929 Mies united
sophisticated materials with a fluid open plan, which together endowed the space with an
unprecedented modern elegance. The architecture's mass is balanced by a pond (featuring a
sculpture by Georg Kolb) and a shallow pool on either end
7. http://www.frontdesk.co.in/forum/ German Pavilion , Barcelona 1929
8. http://www.frontdesk.co.in/forum/ The Pavilion was innovative in that the design called for the
roof to be supported by chrome columns which meant that the walls could be freely positioned since
they did not support the structure It was later dismantled but rebuilt in the 1980’s German Pavilion ,
Barcelona 1929
9. http://www.frontdesk.co.in/forum/ The design was once again revolutionary and combined
the seamless flow from outdoors to indoors. Tugendhat house Brno , Czechoslovakia 1930
10. http://www.frontdesk.co.in/forum/ Tugendhat house Brno , Czechoslovakia 1930
11. http://www.frontdesk.co.in/forum/ Tugendhat house Brno , Czechoslovakia 1930 Mies dealt
with the extreme slope by dividing the front and back of the house into public and private facades.
Facing the street, the building is only one story, but it's two stories on the garden side. The home's
decor boasted several of Mies finest pieces of original furniture, including the Brno chair, the
Tugendhat chair, and the X coffe
12. http://www.frontdesk.co.in/forum/ 1937 marks the departure of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
from Germany due to rising pressure from the Nazi party. Before leaving however he was offered a
professorship at the Armour Institute of Technology in Chicago. This would later become the Illinois
Institute of Technology and Mies would be the prime architect for the campus of the newly formed
school. llIinois Institute of Technology Master Plan, Chicago , 1939 - 1958
13. http://www.frontdesk.co.in/forum/ llIinois Institute of Technology Master Plan,
Chicago , 1939 - 1958 In the realized plan, clusters of buildings placed on a grade
create a series of informal open spaces through a playful shifting of solid (i.e. buildings) and void
(i.e. green space). A 24-foot square grid invisibly overlays the campus to guide its order.
14. http://www.frontdesk.co.in/forum/ Crown Hall ,llIinois Institute of Technology
Chicago , 1939 - 1958 Ground Floor Plan Front Elevation At the Illinois Institute of Technology.
exposed, expressed steel frame, roof suspended from spanning I-beams.
15. http://www.frontdesk.co.in/forum/ In 1944 Mies van der Rohe became a U.S. citizen. In 1946
he began work on the Farnsworth House a weekend retreat for doctor Edith Farnsworth. It’s one of
the most minimalist houses ever designed being composed of a transparent box framed by eight
exterior steel columns with a single room subdivided by partitions and completely enclosed in glass.
Farnsworth House 14520 River Rd Plano, IL 60545,US, 1946 - 1951
16. http://www.frontdesk.co.in/forum/ Farnsworth House 14520 River Rd Plano, IL 60545,US,
1946 - 1951 It—two parallel planes held in suspension between the earth and
sky by only eight steel columns— seems simple, but Mies worked
through 167 drawings to come to his final, fearless design.
17. http://www.frontdesk.co.in/forum/ FARNSWORTH HOUSE Interior, Illinois,
GERMAN PAVILION Interior, Barcelona Expo, 1929 Farnsworth House 14520 River Rd Plano, IL
60545,US, 1946 - 1951
18. http://www.frontdesk.co.in/forum/ LAKE SHORE DRIVE APARTMENTS Illinois, 1948-51
Finally design would merge with construction and much of the work that Mies had begun in the 20’s
would come to fruition. His first project being the Lakeshore Apartment Buildings in Chicago. The
scheme consists of two identical 26-story towers placed 46 feet apart with their long axes set
perpendicular to each other. While each building alone is symmetrical, comprised of 21’
square bays (5 across, 3 deep) with a total of 288 apartments,
19. http://www.frontdesk.co.in/forum/ Once again he created with form and function . The first
floor of the building rested on plithes giving the building integration with the outdoors. LAKE SHORE
DRIVE APARTMENTS, Illinois, 1951
20. http://www.frontdesk.co.in/forum/ SEAGRAM BUILDING, 375 Park Ave, New York, NY,
United States 1958 This 39-story, 516-foot tall office building was commissioned by Joseph E.
Seagram & Sons Corporation, purveyors of Seagram liquors.
21. http://www.frontdesk.co.in/forum/ SEAGRAM BUILDING, 375 Park Ave, New York, NY,
United States 1958 he floor of the Seagram's, as in the Lake Shore Drive, a rectangle of 5x3
squares structural modules. But the elevation of the building achieves its expressive perfection,
simulating a column with its three constituent parts classic. His typology shows clearly the structure
in front, meeting both an ornamental role, consisting of steel beams and columns of bronze, that
without a structural role fits perfectly the large windows that are the most visible epidermis of the
work.
22. http://www.frontdesk.co.in/forum/ Mies van der Rohe was plagued by arthritis for the majority
of his later life. Although involved to the best of his ability Ludwig would never see the completion of
the National Gallery. He died in Chicago, August, 17, 1969 He died leaving a legacy of revolutionary
architecture. Other then the buildings themselves he is remembered by his approach to architecture,
categorized by such sayings as: “ “God is in the details. Architecture is the will of an epoch
translated into space. Thoughts in action. Mies van der Rohe
23. http://www.frontdesk.co.in/forum/ “Let us guide our students… from materials, through
function to creative work… We must understand the motives and forces of our time and analyze their
structure from three points of view: the material, the functional, and the spiritual.” - MIES van der
ROHE (1938) “Form is not the aim of our work, only the result.” - MIES van der ROHE “ Economic,
technical and cultural conditions have changed radically.” - MIES van der ROHE (1928)
24. http://www.frontdesk.co.in/forum/ Thank You for POSTING This forum is for, by and of the
architect fraternity and it will only grow by creating New Thread and New Reply, we can also
comment in existing threads by clicking following button on upper right corner of forum . Post your
expertise valuable comments in forum regularly.
