A minor building by modernist architect Mies van der Rohe is under threat in Chicago. It's what he might have wanted.
"Less is more" was Ludwig Mies van der Rohe's trademark phrase, but the minimalist modern master probably wouldn't appreciate the irony. If Chicago developers get their way, there will indeed be less Mies in the world. It turns out plans to expand the city's subway system will necessitate the demolition of one of his buildings.
The Guardian
5 Comments
you know, there is a mies building, and then there is a little electrical substation someone in his staff drew up at 2am...
there are other buildings out there we should be fighting for...
no?!
It will live on in pictures and archived Tribune articles
you know, there's more to the story than one little building. have you seen the pictures? how would you feel about a piece of your ensemble of buildings being attacked? it balances Mies's composition too.
Check out this blog post and scroll down to the photo:
http://edwardlifson.blogspot.com/2009/05/dont-demolish-mies-van-der-rohe.html
I can see the point but I feel a train station will be infinitely better than the vista posted via the link. Maybe a few trees would help to.
It should be preserved as an exhibit inside the new train station, enveloped by a seamless bean-shaped acrylic shell and inhabited by figures from Gunther von Hagens' "Body Worlds." Matthew Barney could be hired to constantly scale the face of the bubble while graphically annotating his moves.
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