Mies' Architectural Thought

Mies' architectural thought can be understood through the transcendental "form" at the rational level and the "material" at the perceptual level. The "form" of transcendence corresponds to the idea that "less is more", and the "material" of experience corresponds to the idea that "God is in the details". From these two points, we can deduce all Smith's architectural thoughts and viewpoints.

1, less is more.

Smith believes that the square, as the "meta-form" of the objective world, is closer to the truth or the truth itself than the concrete form. The architectural plane prototype is an abstract square, and the architectural volume prototype is an abstract square, which is the inevitable development of Smith's theoretical tendency. "Less is more" is a high generalization of Smith's pursuit of metaphysical truth in philosophy.

Square is the essence of Smith's architectural form. Smith likes a square or rectangular plane on the plane, prefers a square shape in modeling, and cuts off other factors that he thinks are not important. Mies' pursuit of truth subjectively led to the idea that "less is more" objectively.

Because only by a series of simplification and abstraction of the buildings full of details and trivialities in real life can they be reduced to square and cube, which will inevitably lead to the abstract process of deleting the complicated and simplifying. "Less is more" is the theoretical basis for Smith to create his highly abstract square or cube.

"Less is more" is essentially a methodology. As an architectural theory, it does not point out the form or state of the building itself, but only points out how to treat the building in a comparative sense. "

In fact, "less is more" is a guiding ideology of Smith's design, and the building should be simple and simple, and less wins more.

How can "less" be "more"? Smith's key lies in giving the form a kind of transcendence and taking it as the deep meaning of the form. The essentialism in western culture supports that "less is more".

Only when there is a profound humanistic tradition behind the simple form can Smith boldly use this highly abstract form, otherwise it will be called shallow and vulgar.

In addition, the proposal that "less is more" also meets the requirements of the times. In the first half of the 20th century, when Mies lived, the alienation brought by the industrial revolution made the artist's creation change from realism to expressionism and abstraction.

The fast-paced life brought by the industrial revolution forced the creation of modernist architects to change from the figurative and tedious retro trend of thought to the concise and abstract modern composition. In today's fast-paced world, people pursue fast food culture or image culture, and have no interest in time-consuming and laborious long reading.

Similarly, for the form or modeling of architecture or furniture, most contemporary people prefer simplicity and abstraction. Because conciseness and abstraction are modern representations. In other words, the proposition that "less is more" is just in line with this mentality and trend of society, which is also the deep reason why Miss accidentally became a fashion pioneer for a period of time.

"Less is more" is the most mature and perfect architectural theory (more accurately, architectural method) in Smith's life. Some of his previous theoretical propositions or architectural practices are all preparing for brewing "less is more". Conversely, taking Smith's "less is more" as the origin can be traced back to the formation and development of Smith's thought.

Thus, the thread of Mies' thought has developed from transcendental form to the conclusion that "less is more", and then "function obeys form", "pure form" and "cosmic space" are deduced from "less is more". The "flowing space" can be understood as the transition link from Sinkel School to "cosmic space".