Mies Van Der Rohe at Work - Softcover

Carter, Peter

4.11

37 ratings by Goodreads

9780714898537: Mies Van Der Rohe at Work

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0714898538 ISBN 13: 9780714898537

Publisher: Phaidon Inc Ltd, 2006

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A document of Mies van der Rohe's philosophy of architecture, his way of working and his rigorous teaching methodology. The text examines, through statistics, photographs and detailed drawings, the most illustrious buildings of the architect's career. Author Peter Carter, who studied and later worked with Mies for 13 years, began the book while an associate with Mies van der Rohe's firm. Mies' structural and spatial concepts are analyzed through his three major building prototypes, specifically the skeleton frame building, both in it high- and low-rise manifestations, and the clear span buildings.

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Review:

'One of the very few certainties in life is that the best books are out of print! When, as now with Peter Carter's Mies van der Rohe at Work, the situation is remedied by reprinting (with a fresh preface by Phyllis Lambert), it is a cause for celebration. - The first thing to be said about Carter's book is that it is a serious read - a painstaking and carefully researched record of one of this century's most influential architects and teachers. - The text is presented in a straightforward manner, with splendid illustrations, comprehensive data organised in terms of Mies' principal building types, and no diluting comment. In this manner the images are able to speak powerfully for themselves. They substantiate the aphorism of St Thomas Aquinas that Mies was so fond of quoting 'Beauty is the splendour of Truth', and on of his own, 'I don't want to be interesting, I want to be good'; and also one of mine, taken from Wren, that 'the aim of architecture is eternity'. It is all these dimensions that Carter's book brings so vividly to bear on the sensibilities of the reader - Carter first studied under Mies at the Illinois Institute of Technology before working in his office. His book is an authoritative work of reference for students of architecture, practitioners, art historians and the enthusiastic amateur, such as myself. For the author it is a personal tribute to his teacher, colleague and friend.' Lord Palumbo [nb previous owner of Farnsworth House, designed by Mies van der Rohe], The Architect's Journal, 1999

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