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Le Corbusier vs Mies van der Rohe

piero1910

I am not really asking who is better because I think that it is hard to answer that question.  I made this question because I was discussing with a friend about who of those two architects you like more. I tended to like more for Le Corbusier because in my opinion he changed more the world that he even wrote books about modern architecture.  On the other hand, my friend said that he liked more Mies Van der Rohe because he likes more his simplicity and the way he used materials. So, I wanted to know what your opinion about this is. Who do you like more? Why? 

 
Oct 11, 12 11:47 pm
won and done williams

Le Corbusier changed the world more than Mies? I disagree. While Corbusier's thinking paved the way for Mies, the world we see is Miesian. Why? Economics. He taught architects and builders how to build in an economical modern language. Little has changed since Mies because economics haven't changed much. However the internet may be on verge of changing that. The new language of economics no longer needs a physical expression. This either provides greater artistic license (Corbusian?) or makes architecture increasingly less relevant. Possibly both.
 

Oct 12, 12 12:58 pm  · 
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Yes, I did my Mies thing when in Chicago.  Mies is inspiring. Miesian detailing is so very rational at the time it was for  me an inspiration, even a revelation. It then became obvious to me who inspired the SoCAL case study program when I came back to Los Angeles.

Oct 12, 12 1:25 pm  · 
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i'd roughly say southern hemisphere went corbu while north adopted mies. this might have to do with construction materials of industrialized north. namely glass and steel versus more plastic and low tech manufacturing and affordable price of concrete and hollow brick of south. i also think mies buildings are more expensive than corbu's building technology. No wonder mies came to industrialized america while corbu sought clients in the east.

as a student i was more attracted to small scale corbu because his concrete and plastic forms had resonated more with me growing up near mediterranean and aegean architecture. then i went to my miesean discovery in my third year (after seeing chicago as well) which was a little against the grain while post modernism was ruling the architecture world. 

now, i am just glad i know what i am looking at...

Oct 12, 12 4:25 pm  · 
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miesian

Ahem.

Actually, Delirious New York is a pretty good telling of how Corbu tried to break into New York, but couldn't, which then turned into resentment of sorts. He did have a massive influence in South America. I personally believe the core reason for this was Brut Beton more than anything else.

Oct 12, 12 4:34 pm  · 
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chigurh

corbusier was an ever evolving artist; mies was a detailing robot in search of the most pure abstract glass box

Oct 12, 12 4:40 pm  · 
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chatter of clouds

in the arab gulf countries, you'll find that there are lots of glass boxes, many that are distinctly not elegant, awkward, in bad taste...etc...but, glass boxes. and of course, that doesn't make sustainable sense. so, more 'miesian' there than 'le corbusiersian' although not in the northern hemisphere. but that is by way of anglosaxonic corporate culture and of course, many of the gulf countries were colonized by the brits and are now bedbugs..sorry bed mates with ye yankees.    

Oct 12, 12 5:36 pm  · 
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miesian

You can find Mies in industrialized western countries that could afford steel and glass. You can find Corbu in countries that couldn’t.

Oct 12, 12 5:48 pm  · 
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chatter of clouds

sorry, silly of me. i meant not western not not northern. :-|

Oct 12, 12 10:06 pm  · 
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MyDream

i saw a temple for monks that corbu designed from a documentary and it was on a sloping grade and it was a excellent design in the mountains i think. Meis however is on a different level i think, Meis is a designer of skyscrapers he pretty much created the glass/steel concept skyscraper. The Farnsworth house was a great design that influenced me to what could be done with glass when it comes to homes.Corbu's stuff is rare if i could get a hold of more of his work.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2npUfJQqcX0  (The son of a stone mason!)

This is the first part very interesting if you haven't already seen this documentary

Oct 16, 12 11:21 am  · 
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x-jla

You can find Mies in industrialized western countries that could afford steel and glass. You can find Corbu in countries that couldn’t.

That's an interesting point, and probably very true.  

Oct 16, 12 1:53 pm  · 
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threadkilla

very true, indeed.
Italy, for example, didn't have any skyscrapers to show for until after WWII, because the country was under Mussolini's policy of economic autarky - meaning they didn't import building materials, and their national levels of steel production were low enough to be prohibitive even of reinforced concrete construction.

Oct 16, 12 2:41 pm  · 
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