How well do you know Ludwig Mies van der Rohe?

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe was a German-American architect and furniture designer, known as one of the pioneers of modernist architecture. He was the last director of the Bauhaus in the 1930s, but emigrated to the United States after the Nazis closed the school. Mies sought to establish a new architectural style that represented modern times, creating extreme clarity and simplicity using modern materials such as steel and plate glass. He called his buildings "skin and bones" architecture and was known for the aphorisms "less is more" and "God is in the details". Mies began his architectural career as an apprentice at the studio of Peter Behrens, before developing his own architectural style. He married Adele Auguste Bruhn and had three daughters, as well as a son out of wedlock during his military service in 1917. In 1925, he began a relationship with designer Lilly Reich and later had artist Lora Marx as his primary companion. Mies was inspired by the ideas of other theorists and architects, such as Adolf Loos and Frank Lloyd Wright. He settled in Chicago, where he was appointed head of the architecture school at Armour Institute of Technology, later renamed Illinois Institute of Technology. His significant projects in the US include the residential towers of 860-880 Lake Shore Drive, the Chicago Federal Center complex, the Farnsworth House, Crown Hall, the Seagram Building in New York, and homes for wealthy clients. The Farnsworth House was designed and built between 1946 and 1951 as a weekend retreat for Dr. Edith Farnsworth. The glass pavilion is raised six feet above a floodplain next to the Fox River, surrounded by forest and rural prairies.Ludwig Mies van der Rohe: Pioneering Modernist Architect

• Mies designed the Seagram Building, a 38-story building in New York City, which is considered one of the most significant examples of modernist architecture in the world.
• He also designed several notable residential skyscrapers, including The Promontory Apartments in Chicago and 860–880 Lake Shore Drive towers in Chicago.
• Mies was also a furniture designer, creating popular pieces such as the Barcelona chair and table and the Brno chair.
• He was the last director of Berlin's Bauhaus and headed the department of architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago.
• Mies' architectural approach was focused on creating free and open spaces enclosed within a minimal structural order.
• He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1963.
• Mies died on August 17, 1969, from esophageal cancer caused by his smoking habit.
• The Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Archive, consisting of about 19,000 drawings and prints, was established in 1968 by the Museum of Modern Art's department of architecture and design.
• Mies designed two buildings for the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, which comprise one of only two Mies-designed museums in the world.
• In 1952, Mies designed a building on the Indiana University campus in Bloomington, Indiana, which was constructed in 2019.
• Mies designed the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, the central facility of the District of Columbia Public Library, which was completed in 1972, three years after his death.