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Mies
Mies is the most readable, beautiful and comprehensive book ever published on one of the twentieth century's most influential architects. Known for the beauty and purity of his work, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe built remarkable houses, skyscrapers, museums and multi-building campuses. The clarity of this architecture belies the diversity of Mies's interests, which included philosophy and science as well as design, and Detlef Mertin's rigorous and accessible text gives the reader both a clear description of all of the most important buildings as well as the intellectual contexts for their design. The book will illustrate all of Mies's work with over 700 images, and will be a highly desirable object; the large format and generous extent allows for the reproduction of all the photographs, drawings and details essential to understand Mies's work.
544 pages, Hardcover
First published June 4, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 27, 2024
This is a very thoroughly researched book on the life and work of Mies Van Der Rohe. It is not a coffee table book but rather an academic/scholarly book analyzing his work, influence, legacy, and significance.
The book is laid out chronologically but is jot a complete catalog of all his works. It focuses on several projects in great detail while highlighting and skimming over other projects. There are many photos and floor plans, but often the floor plans are difficult to read due to their size.
Apparently the author spent 10 years researching Mies to write this book and it shows. He digs deep into Mies’ philosophy, influences, peers, and critics including hoses of not hundred of names that the reader may want to learn more about. It is not just a visual or spatial analysis of Mies’ work, but considers many different aspects of the time.
The text can be difficult to follow at times as the content is very deep and abstract, as compared to a typical architecture book that is much more visual.
The last 40-50 pages are just bibliography and notes. For further reading, this is a valuable resource and also shows how much effort was put into researching this book. My only real complaint is the way the photo credits are laid out. There are no photo credits on each photo but rather a list at the end. However, the list is alphabetical by photographer or agency rather than chronological to follow the book. So it is almost impossible to determine and photographer credits of a particular photo.
The book is large and solid and high quality, from the layout/design, to the printing, and page quality. This is a book you will want to keep and maybe read multiple times.
There appears to be a newer edition coming out soon but it seems to be a reprint without any new content. You should be able to find a good copy of this one for around $80.
The book is laid out chronologically but is jot a complete catalog of all his works. It focuses on several projects in great detail while highlighting and skimming over other projects. There are many photos and floor plans, but often the floor plans are difficult to read due to their size.
Apparently the author spent 10 years researching Mies to write this book and it shows. He digs deep into Mies’ philosophy, influences, peers, and critics including hoses of not hundred of names that the reader may want to learn more about. It is not just a visual or spatial analysis of Mies’ work, but considers many different aspects of the time.
The text can be difficult to follow at times as the content is very deep and abstract, as compared to a typical architecture book that is much more visual.
The last 40-50 pages are just bibliography and notes. For further reading, this is a valuable resource and also shows how much effort was put into researching this book. My only real complaint is the way the photo credits are laid out. There are no photo credits on each photo but rather a list at the end. However, the list is alphabetical by photographer or agency rather than chronological to follow the book. So it is almost impossible to determine and photographer credits of a particular photo.
The book is large and solid and high quality, from the layout/design, to the printing, and page quality. This is a book you will want to keep and maybe read multiple times.
There appears to be a newer edition coming out soon but it seems to be a reprint without any new content. You should be able to find a good copy of this one for around $80.
December 31, 2022
It took an upcoming trip to Brno including tickets to the advanced tour of the Tugendhat House for me to get started on this dome. And it was well worth it.
The philosophical endings of the chapters seem to ramble on and on without much coherence. So that was confusing a bit, I would have liked to stay more n the technical side. But it's fine. So, yeah, I will have to check a few more of Mies' buildings on my next trips.
The philosophical endings of the chapters seem to ramble on and on without much coherence. So that was confusing a bit, I would have liked to stay more n the technical side. But it's fine. So, yeah, I will have to check a few more of Mies' buildings on my next trips.
September 2, 2020
Super comprehensive. A life's work.
May 10, 2016
The Monograph That Ends All Monographs of Mies?
Please, please, proof me wrong but I believe this this the best monograph of Mies that I read so far. Great drawings, photographs, and insightful information in personal, professional, and historical contexts about this silent man with cigar. The book also discuss in depth of his influences, and his impacts. The format of the book is simple and straightforward despite the complexity of it's content, which reflects Mies' architecture. A true monumental achievement!
Below are images I took of the book for my Amazon review, please see link below and let me know if they are helpful to you (by pressing yes or no button), thank you for your comment and support:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/review/R2JXH...
Please, please, proof me wrong but I believe this this the best monograph of Mies that I read so far. Great drawings, photographs, and insightful information in personal, professional, and historical contexts about this silent man with cigar. The book also discuss in depth of his influences, and his impacts. The format of the book is simple and straightforward despite the complexity of it's content, which reflects Mies' architecture. A true monumental achievement!
Below are images I took of the book for my Amazon review, please see link below and let me know if they are helpful to you (by pressing yes or no button), thank you for your comment and support:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/review/R2JXH...
October 14, 2014
La arquitectura, pensamiento y obra, de Maria Ludwig Michael Mies mejor conocido como Ludwig Miës van der Rohe cambió sin duda alguna el curso de la arquitectura moderna. Controvertido, disciplinado y exigente este genio concibió un mundo diferente y lo reflejó en cada una de sus actividades. Nacido en una Alemania poderosa, de la que huyó después de haber vivido dos guerras mundiales, concluye su vida en Norte América donde crea el rascacielos moderno.
Algunas obras de Mies, como el pabellón de Barcelona, han marcado profundamente a cientos de creadores contemporáneos; sus enseñanzas y la afortunada dirección en la prestigiada e histórica escuela del Bauhaus dieron la pauta para la enseñanza del oficio por décadas y crearon las bases para la teoría modernista que por muchos años fue la base del credo de la arquitectura “internacional”.
Durante más de 10 años Detlef Mertins trabajó recopilando materiales, leyendo todo lo que hasta la fecha se había escrito del Maestro Mies y compiló este maravilloso volumen que en seis secciones abarca más de 60 años de trabajo de este genio de la arquitectura. Este libro es sin duda el más completo trabajo que jamás se haya reunido e irónicamente el autor nunca lo vio publicado.
Meticuloso, profundo y extremadamente bien documentado el libro es referencia indispensable para el que quiera conocer cada uno de los detalles de la vida y obra de Mies. Son estudiadas cada una de las obras por él ejecutadas, el contexto en el que fueron creadas y el pensamiento que rodeó al arquitecto década tras década.
Algunas obras de Mies, como el pabellón de Barcelona, han marcado profundamente a cientos de creadores contemporáneos; sus enseñanzas y la afortunada dirección en la prestigiada e histórica escuela del Bauhaus dieron la pauta para la enseñanza del oficio por décadas y crearon las bases para la teoría modernista que por muchos años fue la base del credo de la arquitectura “internacional”.
Durante más de 10 años Detlef Mertins trabajó recopilando materiales, leyendo todo lo que hasta la fecha se había escrito del Maestro Mies y compiló este maravilloso volumen que en seis secciones abarca más de 60 años de trabajo de este genio de la arquitectura. Este libro es sin duda el más completo trabajo que jamás se haya reunido e irónicamente el autor nunca lo vio publicado.
Meticuloso, profundo y extremadamente bien documentado el libro es referencia indispensable para el que quiera conocer cada uno de los detalles de la vida y obra de Mies. Son estudiadas cada una de las obras por él ejecutadas, el contexto en el que fueron creadas y el pensamiento que rodeó al arquitecto década tras década.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews