Mies in Berlin

This in-depth look at Mies van der Rohe's early career is the first to examine the architect's work in Europe in terms of specific historical and cultural context, rather than the more abstract and formal arguments of the International Style. While earlier studies have described a fundamental break between Mies's neo-classical work prior to 1919 and the more avant-garde work of the 1920s, recent research demonstrates that the transformation was much more gradual. Here 11 scholars and architectural historians explore particular aspects of Mies's work, together shedding new light on the continual interplay of tradition and innovation, nature and abstraction, in the evolution of his design theories and methods. With a wealth of photographs and drawings, many not previously published, this book conveys for the first time the dynamic intellectual ferment of this formative period in the life of one of architecture's towering figures. Published to accompany a groundbreaking 2001 exhibition at The Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe was born in 1886 in Germany; he died in the United States in 1969. One of the pioneers of modern architecture and the International Style, he started out as an assistant to Peter Behrens. A former director of the Bauhaus, some of his most important buildings include the 1929 German Pavilion for the Barcelona International Exhibition and the 1956-58 Seagram Building in New York.