Farnsworth House
The Farnsworth House is a renowned architectural masterpiece located in Plano, Illinois, designed by the influential architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Constructed between 1945 and 1951 as a weekend retreat for Dr. Edith Farnsworth, the house exemplifies the International Style of modern architecture, featuring expansive glass walls that create a seamless connection with the surrounding forest. The structure, elevated to protect against flooding from the nearby Fox River, is a striking representation of simplicity and minimalist design, with only the central core housing essential amenities like bathrooms and a kitchen.
Despite initial disputes between Farnsworth and Mies over costs and ventilation, the home became a cherished getaway for nearly two decades. After changing hands multiple times, it was ultimately acquired by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and is now accessible to the public for tours and educational programs. The Farnsworth House stands not only as a testament to Mies's innovative approach to architecture but also as an enduring symbol of the harmonious relationship between built environments and nature. Preservation efforts continue to ensure its legacy amid challenges posed by flooding and environmental changes.
Farnsworth House
The Farnsworth House is a building in Plano, Illinois, designed by architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. It was built between 1945 and 1951 as a weekend home for Dr. Edith Farnsworth. The single-story structure has been hailed as a perfect example of simplicity in design. The exterior is almost completely composed of glass walls. Only the center of the house, which contains bathrooms, is walled off from the outside.
The Farnsworth House is cited as an inspiration for designs by other architects, such as Philip Johnson's Glass House. Mies's structure is an example of the mid-twentieth century's International Style of modern architecture. The home is open to tours and contains some furniture designed by Mies.
Background
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886–1969) grew up in Aachen, Germany, where he worked with his father, a master mason, on construction sites. Although he never received formal training in architecture, Mies apprenticed from age fifteen to architects designing architectural ornaments and, at age nineteen, worked in Berlin for an architect and a furniture designer.
When he was twenty-one, Mies impressed a leading architect, Peter Behrens, with a design for a suburban home. Behrens hired him. The professional relationship proved to be mutually beneficial. Mies helped Behrens connect with artists and artisans he knew through his other work. These relationships aided Behrens in his efforts to blend art and technology in design, and this was reflected in the work produced by his firm. Behrens and his young protégés were at the forefront of the modern movement in architecture that eventually ushered in the International Style.
Mies was also influenced by German architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel and Dutch architect Hendrik Petrus Berlage. Berlage advocated structural honesty, which Mies took to heart. The idea behind structural honesty is to expose and emphasize the elements in a building that support it, such as the weight-bearing beams.
The architect created several designs proposing steel and glass buildings during the 1910s and 1920s. Although his ideas from this era exist only on paper, they represent groundbreaking changes in building design. By 1927, the International Style was established. Mies designed several modern structures, including the Tugendhat Villa and the German Pavilion in Barcelona, Spain. For the latter, Mies also designed steel chairs that captured the essence of twentieth-century furniture design. The style came to be known as the Barcelona chair.
Mies was successful in his field, but the rise of Nazi Germany and the approach of World War II (1939–1945) stifled creativity in Mies's country. He moved to the United States between 1937 and 1938 and was appointed director of the School of Architecture at the Armour Institute in Chicago (later renamed the Illinois Institute of Technology). He remained director for two decades, during which time he increased the prestige and quality of the school. Mies also designed its campus and buildings, which reflect his ideas of structural honesty with vast expanses of glass, exposed structural steel, and pale brick. He designed several glass and steel buildings, including the Promontory Apartments and Lake Shore Drive Apartments in Chicago in 1949 and, with Philip Johnson, the Seagram Building in New York City in 1958.
In addition to these large-scale projects, Mies was commissioned to design several houses. The only homes designed by Mies and constructed in the United States are the Farnsworth House in Plano, Illinois (1951), the Robert McCormick House in Elmhurst, Illinois (1952), and the Morris Greenwald House in Weston, Connecticut (1955).
Mies continued to design structures in the United States, Mexico, and Germany until he died in 1969. His final project, the IBM Building in Chicago, was completed in 1972.
Overview
Dr. Edith Farnsworth commissioned Mies to design a house that would complement the beauty of the forest along the Fox River. Farnsworth wanted to use the structure as a vacation home, so Mies was free to design it with few storage areas and other requirements of full-time occupancy. The owner and architect fought bitterly in court as the building project cost ballooned, and Farnsworth later complained of poor ventilation inside the structure.
After it was completed, Farnsworth used the 1,500-square-foot (139-square-meter) home as a weekend retreat for about twenty years. It was sold to a private owner, Peter Palumbo, who hired the firm of Mies's grandson, Dirk Lohan, to restore the house to its 1951 condition. In 2003, Palumbo sold the house at auction. The National Trust purchased it for Historic Preservation for a reported $7.5 million.
The Farnsworth House is elevated to expose its structural steel beams and protect it from flooding of the Fox River, which is about 100 feet (30 meters) away. The house sits about 5 feet (1.5 meters) above the ground on a rise, which places it about 8 feet (2.5 meters) above the river. One-third of the house was designed as an open-air porch, but Farnsworth later had it enclosed by screens. Only two windows—in the sleeping area at the north end—open. Steps that appear to float lead up to the house and to a patio that is a few steps lower than the house. Outside, the forest on the opposite side of the house is visible with few obstructions.
The house's open-space design was revolutionary at the time of construction. The outer rooms have full glass walls, giving the interior a nearly unobstructed view of nature, broken only by support beams. Full-length drapes on tracks may be drawn across the glass walls. Two bathrooms, a kitchen, and a wood-paneled living space with a fireplace occupy the central core and eastern side. Mies designed the interior surfaces, including the floors and wood panels, to disguise seams and fastenings.
Mies took his cues from nature when he designed the glass walls. He created the house to be in harmony with nature and felt the house and natural world should be open to one another. He also saw the trees of the forest as providing the only walls necessary to achieve privacy in the secluded setting.
Despite Mies's efforts to elevate and protect the house from flooding, the river inundated it for the first time in 1954. Development upriver in the Chicago area has caused the Fox River to rise to even higher levels several times. A flood in 1995 caused significant damage, and flooding forced further repairs in 2008.
Owned and operated as a public museum by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Farnsworth House, which had been designated a National Historic Landmark, remained available for public tours and educational programs. Efforts were continuously being made to preserve the structure, especially in the face of the persistent flooding threat. The home continued to be recognized as making significant contributions to minimalist design in architecture. It served as an example of blending architecture with nature in a seamless fashion.
Bibliography
"About—History." Edith Farnsworth House, edithfarnsworthhouse.org/history-farnsworth-house/. Accessed 15 Oct. 2024
"Farnsworth House, Illinois, USA." DesignBook Magazine, www.designbookmag.com/farnsworthhouse.htm. Accessed 15 Oct. 2024.
"The Glass House." National Trust for Historic Preservation and The Glass House, theglasshouse.org/explore/the-glass-house/. Accessed 15 Oct. 2024.
"Historic Architecture." Illinois Institute of Technology, www.iit.edu/about/history/historic-architecture. Accessed 15 Oct. 2024.
"The International Style." The Art Story, www.theartstory.org/movement-international-style.htm. Accessed 15 Oct. 2024.
"International Style 1930–1950." Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission, 26 Aug. 2015, www.phmc.state.pa.us/portal/communities/architecture/styles/international.html. Accessed 15 Oct. 2024.
"Ludwig Mies van der Rohe." Chicago Architecture Center, www.architecture.org/online-resources/architecture-encyclopedia/ludwig-mies-van-der-rohe. Accessed 15 Oct. 2024.
"The Man." Mies van der Rohe Society, www.miessociety.org/the-man. Accessed 15 Oct. 2024.
Perez, Adelyn. "AD Classics: The Farnsworth House/Mies van der Rohe." Arch Daily, 13 May 2010, www.archdaily.com/59719/ad-classics-the-farnsworth-house-mies-van-der-rohe. Accessed 15 Oct. 2024.