We should attempt to bring nature, houses, and human beings together in a higher unity.
Ludwig Mies Van Der RoheRead
When one looks at Nature through the glass walls of the Farnsworth House, it takes on a deeper significance than when one stands outside. More of Nature is thus expressed - it becomes part of a greater whole.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the profound connection between humans and nature, suggesting that perspective influences our understanding of the natural world.
Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe suggests that the experience of nature is enhanced when viewed through the architectural lens of the Farnsworth House. This perspective implies that human-made structures can frame and enrich our appreciation of the natural environment, allowing us to see it as part of a larger, interconnected whole rather than in isolation.
Themes
NaturePerspectiveArchitectureConnectionWholeness
In practice
Example use cases
During a nature retreat, I shared this quote to highlight the importance of perspective in appreciating the environment.
More from Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe
All quotes →Architecture depends on facts, but its real field of activity lies in the realm of the significance.
Ludwig Mies Van Der RoheRead
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.
Ludwig Mies Van Der RoheRead
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.
Ludwig Mies Van Der RoheRead
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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