Mies Van der Rohe

Mies van der Rohe was one of the most important masters of the contemporary movement. Born in Aachen in March 1886, he is a German architect and designer known and appreciated throughout the world.

Born from a humble family of carpenters, he developed a great capacity for freehand drawing at an early age. He also assisted in many of the local architects' sites and then moved to Berlin in search of a more stable job. Here he began working for Bruno Paul's studio as a furniture designer and where he began to learn the basics of architecture. Immediately afterwards, in 1907 he went to work for Peter Beherens, where he had the opportunity to work with architects of the calibre of Gropius and Le Corbusier. Here he learned a stylistic approach based on new structural techniques and the rigour of forms, which will become a key point of his language.

In 1913 he finally opened his architectural firm in Berlin, where we witnessed the birth of some of the most important buildings in the history of architecture such as the Friefrichstrasse Skyscraper with its crystal-like plan, the monument to Rosa Luxemburg, Casa Tugendaht, the Barcelona pavilion , the Illinois institute of Technology, the Neue National gallery, just to name a few, but the examples could be many more.

Among his most famous phrases we remember "Is form really a purpose? Is it not rather the result of the process of giving shape? Isn't it the essential process? Doesn't a small change in conditions result in another result? Another form? I do not oppose form, but only form as a purpose. I do this on the basis of a series of experiences and beliefs derived from these. Form as purpose always leads to formalism."

We find his masterpieces not only in the field of architecture but also in interior design and product design. In the 1920s, he was the director of the famous Bauhaus school, where he was able to fully express his ideas.

The most famous quotes by the famous architect are "Less is more" and "God is in the details", two concepts that have characterised his whole life and that we find very clearly in all that he has designed: be they macro projects of large buildings or pieces of furniture.

Many of his projects are found in the most important museums in the world and countless are the furniture designed and sold today by Knoll International.

In fact, after moving to the United States in 1937, Mies established a friendship with the young student Florence Knoll who, in 1948, acquired the production rights for the Barcelona collection. Knoll later secured the rest of Mies' other products, considered among the most original designer furnishings of the twentieth century. The Mies van der Rohe collection confirms Knoll Studio's commitment to creating unique and timeless furnishings following the specifications of the original designs in the absolute certainty of the utility and strength of modern design.