{"id":17320,"date":"2025-07-23T06:19:08","date_gmt":"2025-07-23T06:19:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/17320\/"},"modified":"2025-07-23T06:19:08","modified_gmt":"2025-07-23T06:19:08","slug":"the-iconic-glass-house-built-by-ludwig-mies-van-der-rohe-and-the-lawsuit-that-cast-a-shadow-over-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/17320\/","title":{"rendered":"The Iconic Glass House Built by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe\u2014and the Lawsuit That Cast a Shadow Over It"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

It\u2019s tempt\u00ading, in telling the sto\u00adry of the Edith Farnsworth House<\/a>, to break out clich\u00e9s like \u201cPeo\u00adple who live in glass hous\u00ades should\u00adn\u2019t throw stones.\u201d For the res\u00adi\u00addence in ques\u00adtion is made pre\u00addom\u00adi\u00adnant\u00adly of glass, or rather glass and steel, and its first own\u00ader turned out to have more than a few stones for its archi\u00adtect: Lud\u00adwig Mies van der Rohe<\/a>, the last direc\u00adtor of the Bauhaus<\/a>, who\u2019d immi\u00adgrat\u00aded from Nazi Ger\u00admany to the Unit\u00aded States in the late nine\u00adteen-thir\u00adties. It was at a din\u00adner par\u00adty in 1945 that he hap\u00adpened to meet the for\u00adward-think\u00ading Chica\u00adgo doc\u00adtor Edith Farnsworth<\/a>, who expressed an inter\u00adest in build\u00ading a whol\u00adly mod\u00adern retreat well out\u00adside the city. Asked if one of his appren\u00adtices could do the job, Mies offered to take it on him\u00adself.<\/p>\n

The task, as Mies con\u00adceived of archi\u00adtec\u00adture in his time, was to build for an era in which high and rapid\u00adly advanc\u00ading indus\u00adtri\u00adal tech\u00adnol\u00ado\u00adgy was becom\u00ading unavoid\u00adable in ordi\u00adnary lives. Such lives, prop\u00ader\u00adly lived, would require new frames, and thor\u00adough\u00adly con\u00adsid\u00adered ones at that. The shape ulti\u00admate\u00adly tak\u00aden by the Farnsworth House is one such frame: order\u00adly, and to a degree that could be called extreme, while on anoth\u00ader lev\u00adel max\u00adi\u00admal\u00adly per\u00admis\u00adsive of human free\u00addom.<\/p>\n

That was, in any case, the idea: in phys\u00adi\u00adcal real\u00adi\u00adty, Farnsworth her\u00adself had a long list of prac\u00adti\u00adcal com\u00adplaints about what she began to call \u201cmy Mies-con\u00adcep\u00adtion,\u201d not least to do with its attrac\u00adtion of insects and green\u00adhouse-like heat reten\u00adtion (uncom\u00adpen\u00adsat\u00aded for, in true Euro\u00adpean style, by air con\u00addi\u00adtion\u00ading).<\/p>\n

Chron\u00adi\u00adclers of the Farnsworth House saga tend to men\u00adtion that the cen\u00adtral rela\u00adtion\u00adship appears to have exceed\u00aded that of archi\u00adtect and client, at least for a time. But what\u00adev\u00ader affec\u00adtion had once exist\u00aded between them had sure\u00adly evap\u00ado\u00adrat\u00aded by the time they were suing each oth\u00ader toward the end of con\u00adstruc\u00adtion, with Mies alleg\u00ading non-pay\u00adment and Farnsworth alleg\u00ading mal\u00adprac\u00adtice. In the event, Farnsworth lost in court and used the house as a week\u00adend retreat for a cou\u00adple of decades before sell\u00ading it to the British devel\u00adop\u00ader and archi\u00adtec\u00adtur\u00adal enthu\u00adsi\u00adast Peter Palum\u00adbo, who espe\u00adcial\u00adly enjoyed its ambi\u00adence dur\u00ading thun\u00adder\u00adstorms. Today it oper\u00adates as a muse\u00adum, as explained by its exec\u00adu\u00adtive direc\u00adtor Scott Mahaf\u00adfey in the new Open Space video above<\/a>. Hear\u00ading about all the tur\u00admoil behind the Farnsworth House\u00ad\u2019s con\u00adcep\u00adtion, the atten\u00addees of its tours might find them\u00adselves think\u00ading that hell hath no fury like a client scorned.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Relat\u00aded con\u00adtent:<\/p>\n

A Quick Ani\u00admat\u00aded Tour of Icon\u00adic Mod\u00adernist Hous\u00ades<\/a><\/p>\n

An Oral His\u00adto\u00adry of the Bauhaus: Hear Rare Inter\u00adviews (in Eng\u00adlish) with Wal\u00adter Gropius, Lud\u00adwig Mies van der Rohe & More<\/a><\/p>\n

The Mod\u00adernist Gas Sta\u00adtions of Frank Lloyd Wright and Mies van der Rohe<\/a><\/p>\n

How a 1930s Archi\u00adtec\u00adtur\u00adal Mas\u00adter\u00adpiece Har\u00adness\u00ades the Sun to Keep Warm in the Win\u00adter & Cool in the Sum\u00admer<\/a><\/p>\n

Why Do Peo\u00adple Hate Mod\u00adern Archi\u00adtec\u00adture?: A Video Essay<\/a><\/p>\n

How This Chica\u00adgo Sky\u00adscraper Bare\u00adly Touch\u00ades the Ground<\/a><\/p>\n

Based in Seoul,\u00a0Col\u00adin<\/a>\u00a0M<\/a>a<\/a>rshall<\/a>\u00a0writes and broad\u00adcasts on cities, lan\u00adguage, and cul\u00adture. His projects include the Sub\u00adstack newslet\u00adter\u00a0Books on Cities<\/a>\u00a0and the book\u00a0The State\u00adless City: a Walk through 21st-Cen\u00adtu\u00adry Los Ange\u00adles.\u00a0Fol\u00adlow him on the social net\u00adwork for\u00admer\u00adly known as Twit\u00adter at\u00a0@colinm<\/a>a<\/a>rshall<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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