Mies van der Rohe: A Critical Biography (Revised Edition)

ISBN 9780226151458

Okładka: twarda, Format:  cm, Stron: 512, 2014 r., książka w języku angielskim

Mies van der Rohe: A Critical Biography is a major rewriting and expansion of Franz Schulze’s acclaimed 1985 biography, the first full treatment of the master German-American modern architect. Coauthored with architect Edward Windhorst, this revised edition, three times the length of the original text, features extensive new research and commentary and draws on the best recent work of American and German scholars. The authors’ major new discoveries incle the massive transcript of the early-1950s Farnsworth House court case, which discloses for the first time the facts about Mies’s epic battle with his client Edith Farnsworth. Giving voice to dozens of architects who knew and worked with (and sometimes against) Mies, this comprehensive biography tells the compelling story of how Mies and his stents and followers created some of the most significant buildings of the twentieth century.

From Library Journal

A biography of the man and his ideas, with secondary emphasis on the build ings. Schulze (Art, Lake Forest Col lege) has had the full cooperation of the Mies Archives at the Museum of Mod ern Art and has done extensive re search and interviews with Mies's con temporaries, stents, and intimates. The picture of Mies which emerges is honest and detailed, fair and balanced. Coupled with David Spaeth's Mies van der Rohe ( LJ 5/1/85), which is more de tailed on Mies's architecture, Schulze's book gives a picture in the round. It is well written and flows smoothly, with particularly good attention to Mies's youth in Aachen and the background of Weimar culture. Occasionally one misses illustrations which the narrative implies, but this is still an excellent book. Recommended. Jack Perry Brown, Art Inst. of Chicago Libs.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
 

Review

“Franz Schulze’s 1985 biography of Lwig Mies van der Rohe has always been acknowledged as the most comprehensive and thoughtful biography of one of the key figures in twentieth-century architecture. This revised edition with significant new scholarship by its two authors will undoubtedly come to occupy the same position.”
(Dietrich Neumann, Brown University)



 “A herculean, generally successful effort to present Mies’s work in terms of both character and context. . . .This book has obviously been a long labor of love and respect for which no source has been left untouched.” (Ada Louise Huxtable, on the previous edition)



“[A] distinguished and eloquent biography.” (Paul Goldberger, on the previous edition)



“The most comprehensive book ever written about the master designer and, by any measure, the best. . . . Because no writer has ever before probed into Mies’s life at such depth, we have here the first definitive reconstruction of the architect’s personal habits, loves, fears, triumphs, loneliness and (in his old age) agonies.” (Paul Gabb, on the previous edition Chicago Tribune)

“This excellent revised edition of a work originally published in 1985, has 138 illustrations, incisive descriptions of Mies’ innovative creations and a fascinating account of his Pyrrhic victory in a lawsuit against his disaffected client Edith Farnsworth. (Booklist, Starred Review)

"One recent book, however, has been largely overlooked by reviewers, perhaps because it appears to be merely a revised edition of a volume that Mies lovers already have on their bookshelves. Other than the title, though, the book is a completely different animal. . . . Fresh research into Mies’s American commissions, among them the troubled history of his most alluring American residential work—a transparent glass house for the eminent nephrologist Dr. Edith Farnsworth—has resulted in an almost entirely new book.” (Architectural Digest)

“This authoritative biography of Mies van der Rohe has been updated through building records, the recollections of stents and a court transcript. It's a gripping read, even if you're not a fan.” (Christopher Woodword Building Design)