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MIES AND MODERN LIVING

Interiors, Furniture, Photography

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Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886–1969) is not only one of the most important twentieth-century architects, his furniture designs are also considered milestones in the history of design. Even today, his steel-tube and flat-steel furniture, such as the famous Barcelona Chair, are to a large extent still in serial production.

Based on the most recent research findings and taking new material into consideration, this publication devotes itself to these modern classics and in doing so, discusses the progressive concepts of interior space developed by Mies van der Rohe, who invariably understood the interior-design aspect to be part of an overall architectonic plan. Well-informed experts not only look back on the artistic highlights of Mies’s career and the history of their creation, their contributions also bring to life the atmosphere that prevailed in Berlin in the twenties and thirties. In addition, this book contains a series of previously unpublished photographs on Mies’s work. 

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The Layout

This is a heavy 288 pages book about the interiors and furniture of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and his studio. There are a lot of beautiful unpublished pictures in it, really worth to look at. Especially the »Glassroom« and the images of Berlin’s city life of the twenties and thirties.

The idea for the layout was to make it look (of course) as simple as possible, but also elegant and stylish. When you think about Mies’ work, you know, that this really is a high challange, when you don’t want to make the book look just boring. Therefore I used the great Univers (light only) and tried to »waste« a lot of white space to support the duotone images. The grit is clear but also flexible enough for the differnt sizes of the images.

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Many thanks to the great team of the Hatje Cantz Berlin office to make this book possible.

Hatje Cantz, 2008
288 pp., 373 ills., 24,00 × 28,00 cm