Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
American, born Germany, 1886–1969
Highrise Buildings Sketch, Chicago, Illinois, Perspective Sketches
INV-1205
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
American, born Germany, 1886–1969c. 1946–1948
Highrise Buildings Sketch, Chicago, Illinois, Perspective Sketches
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe American, born Germany, 1886–1969 →design sketcharchitectural drawing
Date
c. 1946–1948
Medium
Graphite on note paper, mounted on archival board
Dimensions
15.2 × 21.7 cm (6 × 8 9/16 in.); Including board: 25.3 × 36.1 cm (10 × 14 1/4 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Purchased with funds provided by the Architecture Society and the Alexander C. and Tillie S. Speyer Foundation in Honor of John Zukowsky; through prior gift of the Three Oaks Wrecking Company and Carson, Pirie, Scott and company; Samuel P. Avery Endowment and Edward E. Ayer Endowment in memory of Charles L. Hutchinson
Mies van der Rohe realized many influential tall buildings and is widely credited with establishing a minimalist design template for rectangular towers in steel-and-glass office buildings in American cities throughout the 1960s and 1970s. Mies’ first realized towers, however, were a series of residential buildings in Chicago, the most famous of which is 860–880 Lake Shore Drive, completed in 1951. With an economy of line, this sketch for two high-rise buildings illustrates the dynamic, perpendicular relationship of the 860– 880 towers, as well as the uniform columns supporting the buildings’ volumes at ground level, creating a joined arcade and lobbies for the apartments.
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