Angela Burke Case Study House

Farnsworth House

Location: Plano, Illinois. Situated along the banks of the Fox River, the house stands in stark contrast to

the natural environment that surrounds it. Farnsworth employs an East-West axis along the river edge,

and is situated next to a large maple tree to the South that acts as ‘protector’ over the house.

Date: Built 1946-1950

Project Size: 1500 square feet. The single functioning room is 55 by 28 feet.

Materials: Steel framing and glass on the exterior, supported by steel pilotis. Interior elements include

travertine marble, silk curtains, and primavera walls.

Architect: Mies van der Rohe (1886-1969)

Mies began his career in Europe, as a leader of the architectural avant-garde movement of the 1920’s.

This leadership took place after his early apprenticeship for Peter Behrens from 1908 to 1911. After the

first World War, Mies joined the Novembergruppe artist movement and created the avant-garde

magazine called G (Gestaltung). In 1920 Mies began experimenting with suspended floor planes and

light vertical members, echoing the call from other architects to move to a more transparent, organic

architecture. His most important works include the Barcelona Pavilion and the Seagram Building in New

York, among a great body of work carried out in the United States.

Among his United States architectural commissions, the Farnsworth house stands out. It is the most

clear, most complete articulation of Mies’ aesthetics in design of a series of houses, as well as the

modernist ideals he had learned from in Europe. The home was designed for Dr. Edith Farnsworth, a

surgeon from Chicago. It was to act as a weekend country retreat for the busy doctor.

Ultimately, the Farnsworth house shows the culmination of Mies van der Rohe’s minimalistic design

concept. Every element of the house is stripped down to its simplest form, and the slightest details in

color and shape are chosen to keep the house simple in contrast to the nature that surrounds it. Most

importantly though, the Farnsworth house was designed for a specific experience. Meant for only one

or two occupants, the ‘small’ space consists of a very open floor plan, and the glass walls allow for

maximum views and light. Every moment of the changing seasons is taken into account; with the east-

west orientation, the placement of the bed in the Northeast corner, and even the raised floor slabs are

meant to accommodate seasonal flooding (spring access is by way of a canoe). Despite aesthetic

contrast to the nature around it, Farnsworth works to interact with and complement the trees and river

that make the landscape/ scenery surrounding the house.

“I believe that the Farnsworth House has never really been understood. I myself have been in this house

from morning to nightfall. Until then, I had never realized how colorful nature could be. Inside, neutral

tones have to be carefully used since all colors exist on the outside. These colors change continuously

and completely, and I’d like to say that it is simply glorious.” Mies van der Rohe.

Axonometric Drawing of Farnsworth

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/167/406379344_c6cc41dc70.jpg

Conceptual water color painting of Farnsworth, done by Mies van der Rohe in 1945

http://www.moma.org/collection_images/resized/132/w500h420/CRI_69132.jpg

View from exterior porch

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Bibliography:

Blaser, Werner. Farnsworth House: Weekend House. Basel, Boson, Berlin: Birkhauser, 1999. Print.

"Farnsworth House- History." Online Posting. National Trust for Historic Sites. Web. 16 Jan. 2009.

<http://www.farnsworthhouse.org/history.htm>.

Farnsworth House. 1945. Watercolor. Museum of Modern Art, New York City. By Mies Van der Rohe.

Lara, Myra. Farnsworth House. 2007. Photograph. Personal Drawings. By Alicia Cerna and Alex Tseng.