The Bauhaus…1920s Germany

The influence of the Bauhaus… Begun in 1919 in Weimar, using design innovations —

radically simplified forms, rationality and functionality. Combined crafts and the fine arts, and was famous for the

approach to design that it publicized and taught. It operated from 1919 to 1933.

Founded by Walter Gropius with the idea of creating a 'total'

work of art in which all arts, including architecture would eventually be brought together. The Bauhaus style became one of the most influential currents in modernist architecture and modern design.

Mies van der Rohe ran the school from 1930-1933, when the Nazi regime gave them so much trouble that the school was closed. Mies followed Walter Gropius to the United States and changed the face of America’s cities.

Characterized by flat rooftops (buildings don’t need a “hat”)

Smooth, uniform wall surfaces Large expanse of windows Absence of ornamentation

United Nations 1946

The Farnsworth HouseMies van der Rohe1946

Philip Johnson’s Glass House 1949

Interior of the Glass House…

Lever House: Skidmore, Owings Merrill 1952…seminal glass box…the first curtain wall skyscraper in NYC

Seagram Building 1958: Mies van der Rohe and Philip Johnson

Citicorps 1978

World Trade Center plaza

World Trade Center 1970