Ludwig Mies Van der Rohe: Modern Architect and Designer of the 20th Century

Probably nothing in the world of 20th century architecture is there as important as the birth of the modern style. Since its inception in the early days of the 1900s, modern architecture has shaped the many buildings that grace our cities and business centers around the world with its graceful, slim lines and the minimalist attitude they exude. However, these characteristics of modernism are not just found in buildings but also in the furniture inside them. In fact, most of the famous architects that used the modern style in design were furniture designers as well. One fine example of this the works of the renowned architect and designer Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

When it comes to modern architects, probably the first names that would come to mind would be Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Considered as one of the founding fathers of the modern style in architecture, van der Rohe incorporated his elegant, minimalist designs for buildings into furniture designs, creating beautiful furnishings that were mostly comprised of black leather and chrome-plated metal.

However, with all his successes Mies van der Rohe started out in obscurity. Born as Maria Ludwig Mies in March 27, 1886, van der Rohe started out in his father’s stone-carving shop before he moved out to Berlin to work under the interior designer Bruno Paul. He then started his career in architecture by being apprenticed to Peter Behrens in 1908, were he was exposed to the latest design theories of the day and met his contemporaries Walter Gropius and Le Corbusier. After leaving his apprenticeship in 1912, van der Rohe worked at the Embassy of the German Empire under the wing of Behrens himself. There his talent grew and became more visible, and was not long before Maria Ludwig Mies reinvented himself from a stone carver’s son to the near-legendary designer Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.

In the same manner as his architectural projects, Mies van der Rohe’s furniture design can simply be described as feature only the bare necessities of framework and structural order balanced with the freedom of free-flowing open space. Van der Rohe often called his designs “skin and bones’ because of this. Furthermore, he strove to acquire a better perspective on industrial design, and studied various books about philosophy to better understand culture and its significance with design. This, as well as legendary discipline that Mies van der Rohe imposed on himself, culminated with the Barcelona, Brno and Tugendhat, considered by many to be some of the best furniture designs of the 20th century.