1886-1969
Foremost Architect of Modern America

Bauhaus-Trained.

Considered one of the founders of modern architecture, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe's directed his concepts toward industrialization and harmonious proportions. Mies practiced architecture in Berlin, Germany, from 1911 to 1937, serving as the last director of the famous Bauhaus school from 1930 to 1933. He became internationally famous after World War I with his design of two steel skyscrapers entirely sheathed in glass. These were forerunners of his creations in the United States, where he settled in 1938 after fleeing from Nazi Germany.

Glass and Steel.

In the 1950s Mies's glass-and-steel skyscrapers ("glass-and-steel boxes," his detractors called them) were adopted by much of corporate America. Chief executive officers liked the well-ordered look of Mies's sleek, geometric buildings; his creations became a symbol of corporate power and spawned imitations all over America. Mies's famous buildings included the Seagram Corporation headquarters in...