Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe

Have you noticed the Google heading on today's homepage? Google is celebrating the 126th anniversary of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe's birth. Mies died in 1969, but not before creating some beautiful neoclassical and modern architecture. It has been said that Mies strived to depict the progressive changes in technology and production through his architecture. The Germany-born architect answered this calling by designing a number of "less is more" styled buildings including
Farnsworth Housein Plano, Illinois

Barcelona Pavilion in Barcelona, Spain.

and

Seagram Building in New York City, New York.

As you can see, his buildings, which were completed between 1920 and 1960, were minimal and built with industrial steel and plate glass. He was often quoted as saying that his architecture could be simplistic because "God is in the details." The building used as the Google icon is
S.R. Crown Hall

It was finished in 1956 in Chicago, Illinois and is widely considered Mies's pièces de résistance. It houses the College of Architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. When the building first opened, Mies said that it was "the clearest structure we have done, the best to express our philosophy."