The detail as enhancement of the form in the Library and Administration Building, of the Illinois Institute of Technology, by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

Abstract

The key question addressed in this paper is to what extent constructive details influence the constructional form and ultimately the quality of architectural projects. To this end Mies van der Rohe, one of the most significant exponents of Modern Architecture, was selected because of the precision and intensity with which he designed his work. In particular he paid enormously attention to the detail, which for Mies meant more than a mere technical corollary, but a way to accentuate the form. The non-built Library and Administration Building was elected as study case because of the large variety of the constructional details in all their dimensions and form elaborated in the multitude of drawings designed in preparation of the architectural project. According to Mies van der Rohe a project concretizes by the design of the constructional details. He considers the details as basic components in the concretization of the conception. Details condenses the entire constructive system, a fundamental  requirement of the form, and forming an intense moment of -constructive and visual- relation between materials. The analysis was based on reviewing Mies van der Rohe’s original drawings and with the selection of the most representative details. Using the digital technology the basic geometry of constructive details were modeled and visualized. The approach enabled the materialization of the diverse elements and the visualization of the relations between elements from different points of view. The exercise revealed that virtual construction is a valuable alternative to real construction when the latter for one or other reason is not possible. With the technology we reconstructed again and again the building and the details which enabled us to better understand in an experimental way the reasons why Mies discarded certain proposals and leaned towards others. Our study unfolded that Mies van der Rohe always looked for the most universal, economic and abstract solution, and it was proven that the correct relation between materials leads to the intensification of architectural projects.