Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Born Maria Ludwig Michael Mies (1886-03-27)March 27, 1886 Aachen, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire Died August 17, 1969(1969-08-17) (aged 83) Chicago, Illinois, U.S. Nationality German (1886–1944), American (1944–1969) Spouse(s) Adele Auguste (Ada) Bruhn (1913-1918) (separated) Children 4 Awards Pour le Mérite (1959) Royal Gold Medal (1959) AIA Gold Medal (1960) Presidential Medal of Freedom (1963) Buildings Barcelona Pavilion Tugendhat House Crown Hall Farnsworth House 860–880 Lake Shore Drive Seagram Building New National Gallery Toronto-Dominion Centre Westmount Square Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (born Maria Ludwig Michael Mies; March 27, 1886 – August 17, 1969) was a German-American architect. He is commonly referred to and was addressed as Mies, his surname. Along with Le Corbusier and Frank Lloyd Wright, he is widely regarded as one of the pioneering masters of modern architecture. Mies, like many of his post-World War I contemporaries, sought to establish a new architectural style that could represent modern times just as Classical and Gothic did for their own eras. He created an influential twentieth-century architectural style, stated with extreme clarity and simplicity. His mature buildings made use of modern materials such as industrial steel and plate glass to define interior spaces. He strove toward an architecture with a minimal framework of structural order balanced against the implied freedom of free-flowing open space. He called his buildings "skin and bones" architecture. He sought a rational approach that would guide the creative process of architectural design, but he was always concerned with expressing the spirit of the modern era. He is often associated with his quotation of the aphorisms, "less is more" and "God is in the details".