Reading this was for me an epiphany. I could see, almost in a flash, the unity of building and landscape developing throughout Mies’s building art, ultimately morphing into the podium that binds the Seagram tower to the urban landscape — plaza, platform, an oasis amid the chaos of New York. This led me to reevaluate the importance of surrounding context, in Mies’s architecture throughout his career and to understand in a new light some of his statements, drawings, and photomontages. — Places Journal
"What led Mies to create the union of skyscraper and plaza on Park Avenue, a binding together so profoundly important in his oeuvre?" On Places, in an excerpt from the new book Building Seagram, Phyllis Lambert recounts the evolution of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe's architectural philosophy, from his early years in Berlin to the postwar American projects; in particular she explores his deep concern for the interrelationship between architecture and landscape, which culminated in his design for the Seagram Building.
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Very good article by someone intimate with Mies' methods. The discussion on parallax is new to me. Recommended.
My own experience with Mies is second hand; my then wife's ex-in law was Mies' main developer in Chicago.
I'm consistently impressed by the essays over at Design Observer. Great stuff.
But no mention of the whiskey-colored glass?! Must be in another chapter....
What is the story behind the Whiskey glass?
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