1929-1930 Mies van der Rohe


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god is in the details
refinement
drawing plans
raumsraepresentation
materiality
horizontality
linearity
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"Each material has its specific characteristics which we must understand if we want to use it... This is no less true of steel and concrete [than of wood, brick, and stone]. We must remember that everything depends on how we use a material, not on the material itself... New Materials are not necessarily superior. Each material is only what we make of it... We must be as familiar with the functions of our buildings as with our materials. We must learn twhat a building can be, what it should be, and also what it must not be... And just as we acquaint ourselves with materials, just as we must understand functions, so we must become familiar with the psychological and spiritual factors of our day. No cultural activity is possible otherwise; for we are dependent on the spirit of our time."


The most amazing thing about Mies van der Rohe for me is his precision, diligence, patience reworking and controlling every detail, attention to every single aspect that might affect how his architecture is perceived. Let's take Barcelona Pavilion, for example. All things are carefully thought through: colour, translucency and opacity of glass, stone patterns, layers of panels and walls, reflection of materials, luminosity inside/outside the building, material language, fixtures, joints, finishes, etc. And light appears to be the core element in this building, crucial for Mies' construction of space. That is why I believe the installation that SANAA architects created for the pavilion in 2008 is a very clever yet subtle comment about it.

The project consisted of acrylic curtains arranged in a spiral within the pavilion, reflecting and distorting views through the structure. As Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa explain, they didn’t want the installation to interfere in any way with the existing space of the Barcelona Pavilion.

“The acrylic curtains rest lightly on the floor and adopt the form of a sinuous spiral. The curtain adapts smoothly to the Pavilion’s inner space to create a new atmosphere. The view through the acrylic material is rather different from the original one, in that it generates gentle reflections that slightly distort the Pavilion.”


Video footage of the installation here: http://vimeo.com/7986712