FRANSWORTH

HOUSELUDWIG MIES VAN DER ROHE

FEW WORKS OF AR. MIES VAN DER
ROHE

NEUE LAKE SHORE DRIVE

APPARTMENTS
NATIONALGALERIE
SEAGRAM
BUILDING

GOLFCLUBHAUS TUGENDHAT MANSION

ABOUT
AUTHOR
• Born - March 27, 1886, German Empire
• Died - August 17, 1969 (aged 83)Chicago ,  U.S.
• Nationality – German (1886–1944),
 American (1944–1969)
• Occupation - Architect
• Awards - Pour le Mérite (1959)
Royal Gold Medal (1959)
AIA Gold Medal (1960)
Presidential Medal of Freedom(1963)
HIS PRINCIPLES
:
• It means building should be stripped of any EXTRAS and constructed on
essentials of CLARITY, UTILITY AND EFFECT....
• In general it means , LESS COMPLICATED is better UNDERTSTOOD and
more APPRECIATED than what is more complicated…..
• SIMPLICITY is preferable to complexity…..
• He used this phrase to describe how he thought building should be
constructed..
INTRODUCTI
ON

• Designed in 1945-1950
• Built in 1950-1951
• Land Area 240,000 m2
• Floor Area 206 m2
• Location - Springfield, Illinois, United States
Location

• The house is situated amongst meadows and

large trees, on the banks of the Fox River, in
Plano, United States.
• The Fox River is prone to overflowing, due to the
regions’ heavy rainfall. This is one of the principal
reasons why the house was built elevated above
the ground.
• To the South, a large grove of trees achieves the
function of protecting the house, by spreading its
branches a considerable height over the
travertine terrace.
 FRANSWORTH HOUSE

FOX RIVER
CONCEP
T
• The house consists of a metal structure enclosed
only by glass which creates the impression of a
viewpoint, and pays tribute to the beauty of the
space surrounding the house. The transparency
allows that from the interior, one is fully conscious
of the landscape, but also acts inversely to
incorporate the interior of the house into the
enclave in an innovative way.
• The house remains between the trees as if on
tiptoe, without disturbing the grass’ growth, nor
the regularity and volume of the river when it
overflows.
Transparency and between the trees
description
• The Farnsworth House, an icon of the architecture of
the Modernist movement, is found situated in a
natural setting, very close to a river, with one of its
sides facing toward a forest which separates it from
the current of the water, and another facing a small
meadow.
• It is evident that a house which completely dispenses
with exterior walls, as well as the interior partitions,
supposes an absolute renouncement of one of the
basic characteristics of domestic spaces: privacy.
Furthermore, the paucity of elements used in the
construction of the house  signifies a brilliant synthesis
of Mies‘ minimalist constructive philosophy: “less is
more”.
• To bring the idea of certain architectural flow to its
ultimate degree, it can be regarded as such: the
complete connection between the individual and
nature, interrupted only by the unavoidable presence
of two bathrooms and a wardrobe.
spaces
• A central core made of wood houses the sanitary
facilities and creates the separation between the
kitchen, two bedrooms and living room. The house
extends toward the meadow via the terrace and the
levels are travelled between by steps.
• It consists of a first space, covered but open to the
exterior on three of its sides, which is used as a
porch. Passing this, one enters the interior of the
house, in which the attention is drawn to two
fundamental features: the absence of walls and the
interior divisions of the work.
 BED ROOM

TERRACE FLOOR LEVEL

GROUND LEVEL KITCHEN SEATING AREA

BATHROOM
DINING

LOUNGE
The absence of walls
• The house is completely lacking in walls, which have
been substituted for floor-to-ceiling glass panels. It is
only the curtains, if closed, which impede the vision
of the interior at all.
• only towards the centre of the space, a wooden core
which houses two bathrooms separated by a
wardrobe and beside which the kitchen is also
located- a so-called “American style”.
• The asymmetric central core does not reach to the
ceiling, except in its central part. It contrasts with the
steel and glass façade, as it is built mainly from
plywood.
• The core is the only space where any elements
pierce the flat ceiling or planes of the floor.
• Drains and pipes pass through the floor and a
vertical shaft which contains the bathroom vents and
the chimney flue travels through the roof and exit the
exterior, also allowing access for services such as
electricity and water.
• The proportions of the floor, the positioning of the
pillars, the porch area and the mullions of the
carpentry of the enclosed space are conditions which
remain invariable.
• He proposed that the interior distribution had to
encompass all the functional requirements,
installations, bathrooms and kitchen without
interrupting the glazed perimeter.
Relationship with the body of water

• The volume of the Farnsworth House is situated

above the terrain in parallel with the flow of the river.
However, when the water overflows it floods the
margins and erases any reference to the banks. Mies
designed a structure on pillars whose surfaces would
have minimum contact with the ground and which
would not hinder the water’s flow. In this way the
horizontal planes are maintained, fundamentally
separated from the original terrain.
Static structure
• In terms of static structure, the Farnsworth House is
the maximum expression of minimalism, using only
the minimum elements necessary to assure the
stability of the house.
• These elements form the eight columns, separated
by a distance of 6.6 metres, which support the two
slabs which form the floor and roof.
• The pillars are situated to the outer edge of the slabs
and do not interrupt the horizontal planes. The pillars
are formed by a continuous single-piece profile, from
the floor to the top of the roof.
• The vertical line dominates over the projection of
the structure and parallel to the two planes- the
lower one of the floor and the upper of the roof-
which helps to reinforce the equivalence between
the two.
• The house is elevated 5 feet 3 inches (1.60 m) above
a flood plain by eight wide flange steel columns which
are attached to the sides of the floor and ceiling
slabs.
Facade
• The façade is made from individual panels of glass
which run from floor to ceiling, fixed to the
structure by steel frames.
Materials
• An architectural work made of steel, laminated
glass and Roman travertine panels for the roof and
floor.
NEGATIVE
S • The roof was leaking water into the interior and the
heating caused an effect of vapour condensation on
the windows.
• The lack of air conditioning, which caused an effect
like a greenhouse in the interior during the warmer
seasons.
THANK YOU