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The architect must get to know the people who will live in the planned house. From their needs, the rest inevitably follows.
Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Understanding the future inhabitants' needs is crucial for effective architectural design.

This quote emphasizes the importance of an architect's connection with the people who will occupy the spaces they create. By deeply understanding the needs and desires of the residents, an architect can design functional and meaningful spaces that resonate with those who live in them. It suggests that the design process should be user-centered, with the inhabitants' experiences and lifestyle at the forefront of architectural considerations.

Themes

ArchitectureDesignInhabitantsNeedsPlanningUser-Centered

In practice

Example use cases

In a presentation on architecture, I quoted Mies Van Der Rohe to highlight the importance of understanding user needs.

More from Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe

We should attempt to bring nature, houses, and human beings together in a higher unity.
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Architecture depends on facts, but its real field of activity lies in the realm of the significance.
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The demands of the time for objectivity and functionality must be fulfilled. If that clearly happens, then the buildings of our day will convey the greatness of which the age is capable, and only a fool will maintain that they lack it.
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I think that an industrial process is not like a rubber stamp. Everything has to be put together and, as such, should have its own expression.
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Reinforced concrete buildings are by nature skeletal buildings. No noodles nor armoured turrets. A construction of girders that carry the weight, and walls that carry no weight. That is to say, buildings consisting of skin and bones.
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Modern buildings of our time are so huge that one must group them. Often the space between these buildings is as important as the buildings themselves.
Ludwig Mies Van Der RoheRead

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