Mies Van Der Rohe and Adolf Loos

This entry comes from our history class discussion from Monday 26th. My instructor came up with the question if Mies Van der Rohe really betray the ornament and crime reading or if what he designed actually follow what it. The reading came from the last respond.

First of all, I don’t think that Mies really follow the reading even it seems like he sticks to the principle of not adding anything more than it is needed. Mies works are plain and simple as all the modern architecture is. However, if you look it closer to the detail you’ll see that his work is full of ornament. For example, The Seagram building in New York. There are elements that aren’t necessary for structure of the build but Mies still add it into the building, which is, and I-beam with out any concrete cover outside. There is a law in the US enforces all the I-beam must be cover with concrete for fire proofing reason. In that Seagram building has i-beams cover with concrete for structural reason but it is also have the additional i-beams which are made out of extruded brass on every floor of the building so it can provides the color that looks like liquor because the building belongs to a liquor company in New York. So this is the part where I think that Mies isn’t really follow what Loos said in his book. Even the extra I beams serve as structural support of the building it is still very bourgeois because i-beam doesn’t need brass as its material.

 Seagram Building ,NY

Another reason why I don’t think that Mies follow the reading is because his work is so crafty and skillful. There is a house he designed that needs a lot of craftsmanship while the ornament and crime says about using machine. That house is Fransworth House that he designed for Mr. and Mrs. Fransworth. The way columns and beams are joined is by bolting then bolts are sanded and polish so people cannot see the joints of it. This needs a skill and human to work with.

Fransworth house joint, Fransworth House, IL

From the two reasons above makes me think that Mies doesn’t agree with ornament and crime. He puts ornament his building by not make it obvious that he put it in and that helps creates the beauty in nature of building.