The skin and bones of structure. A brief history of how Mies van der Rohe revealed the skeleton of the house

Cervilla García, Alejandro (2019). The skin and bones of structure. A brief history of how Mies van der Rohe revealed the skeleton of the house. "Architectus" (n. 2(58)); pp. 15-26. ISSN 1429-7507. https://doi.org/10.5277/arc190202.

Description

Title: The skin and bones of structure. A brief history of how Mies van der Rohe revealed the skeleton of the house
Author/s:
  • Cervilla García, Alejandro
Item Type: Article
Título de Revista/Publicación: Architectus
Date: September 2019
ISSN: 1429-7507
Subjects:
Freetext Keywords: Mies van der Rohe, Riehl, Mosler, Esters, Lange, Weissenhofsiedlung, Wolf, Tugendhat, Farnsworth, estructura
Faculty: E.T.S. Arquitectura (UPM)
Department: Proyectos Arquitectónicos
UPM's Research Group: Cultura del Hábitat
Creative Commons Licenses: Recognition - Non commercial

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Abstract

Mies van der Rohe es considerado uno de los grandes maestros del siglo XX, tanto por la coherencia de su obra, como por su capacidad de hacer una arquitectura moderna basada en la importancia de la estructura. Así lo reconoce Peter Blake, arquitecto y crítico de Arquitectura, en “El magisterio de la Estructura” capítulo que dedica a Mies van der Rohe dentro de su serie de Maestros de la Arquitectura. En este artículo querríamos analizar la evolución de la imagen de la estructura en las viviendas de Mies van der Rohe, desde su primera casa, la Casa Riehl, construida en Berlín en 1907, hasta su última casa, la Morris Greenwald, construida en Weston en 1953. Veremos cómo la estructura vivió una transformación radical, y viajó, desde lo más oculto de la Arquitectura, hasta su exterior. Y cómo en este proceso, el maestro alemán fue capaz de superar la idea de estructura, más allá de su capacidad portante, para convertirla en el principal elemento plástico de su Arquitectura.

Mies van der Rohe is considered one of the great masters of the 20th century, both for the coherence of his work and for his ability to make modern architecture based on the importance of structure. This is recognized by the architect and architectural critic, Peter Blake, in the chapter he devoted to Mies van der Rohe, entitled The Mastery of Structure, in his “Masters of Architecture” series. In the present article we would like to analyze the evolution of the image of structure in the houses of Mies van der Rohe, from his very first dwelling, Riehl House, built in Berlin in 1907, to his last
house, Morris Greenwald, built in Weston in 1953. We will see how structure underwent a radical transformation over this period progressing from the innermost hidden realm of Architecture outwards to its exterior, and how in this process, the German maestro managed to transcend the idea of structure and its load-bearing capability to convert it into the main artistic element of his architecture.

More information

Item ID: 56525
DC Identifier: https://oa.upm.es/56525/
OAI Identifier: oai:oa.upm.es:56525
DOI: 10.5277/arc190202
Official URL: http://www.architectus.arch.pwr.wroc.pl/58/58_02.p...
Deposited by: Alejandro Cervilla Garcia
Deposited on: 23 Sep 2019 06:45
Last Modified: 18 May 2020 09:57
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