When Mies van der Rohe conceived the idea for a skyscraper in 1921, he was thinking how to do more with less. In fact he firmly believed "Less is more". Think of the early 20th century as a time of great hope and industrial grownth. People were actual encouraged to consume good and services. I think that Mies' high rises builds have contributed to a sustainable architecture that is now being matured in modern buildings. The use of glass and open spaces within Mies buildings, allowing natural light to fill its interior are now integrated in today's architecture. This feature I now appreciate. His builds have stood the test of time. His Lake Shore Drive apartments are still a valued asset to this day. Now some of his builds need to be updated as our attitude towards conservation and sustainability comes into focus.
Mies van der Rohe’s Crown Hall at Illinois Institute of Technology, is gem of Modern architectural aesthetics. An environmental conservation study revealed that, "After evaluating the building, monitoring temperature and humidity, and studying original drawings, Atelier Ten realized that Mies’s design helped foster a sustainable environment — before sustainability was topical." While Crown Hall is a single story build it embodies a prototype of sustainability.
His tall buildings can also be retro fitted with solar panels to utilized the Sun's energy to provide heat and hot water for it tenants.
On the other-side, think how skyscrapers centralize the creation and disposal of garbage. Here are a few facts about a famous American skyscraper (not designed by Mies)
# The Empire State Building contains 3,194,547 light bulbs,
50 miles of radiator pipe
70 miles of water pipe
1,060 miles of telephone cable
7,450 tons of refrigeration equipment.
# One hundred tons of trash and waste are removed from the building each month.
For more information on Crown Hall see the is link http://www.aiany.org/eOCULUS/newsletter/?p=366
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
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Cool facts about the Empire State Building. Crown Hall looks cool, too. You can definitely tell its Mies. It almost looks like the bottom of the Seagram Building. His aesthetic really is simple and efficient. There's so much air in his designs. I wonder if they have to treat the windows of his buildings, I would imagine they get hot in the summertime and use up a lot of AC. Actually, your link answers that very well. Great post, Wayne.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it amazing how the idea of "less is more" has come so far? It's surprising that during a time when people were encouraged to almost over-consume goods that people wanted and encouraged the idea of "less is more".
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