All photos taken by Kathryn Jane Luke
There is no denying it, minimalism is back (even if it was never out of style). In recent years there has been a growth in people adopting the trend as a way of life, with millennial's choosing experiences over belongings and keen to live in picture perfect white boxes. But this is nothing new and in fact hearkens back to a timeless architectural trend that will never lose its validity. The aphorism “less is more” has become synonymous with architect Ludwig Mies Van der Rhoe and succinctly sums up the ethics of the movement he was part of during the 20th century.
This is clearest in the pavilion he created to represent Germany as part of the 1929 International Exposition in Barcelona. The original structure was only erected for seven months till 1930, meaning the version we see today is in fact a 1986 replica of the original. The illusions surrounding the pavilion don’t stop there, the matchstick slender mirrored columns do not hold weight of the slab roof, and the clean, un-ornamented and linear aesthetic which features no sign of human behaviour sits above a basement filled with the junk required to keep an exhibition functioning and clean.
Many artists have brought attention to and mocked the lack of life in the cool, sleek structure by holding temporary installations within the pavilion. In 2017, architects Anna and Eugeni Bach altered the pavilion to a white box, the purest vision of its form, showing the precision of its geometry. The Roman travertine, golden onyx, green alpine and ancient green marble were covered with white vinyl screens. “This simple act turns the pavilion into a 1:1 scale mock-up, a representation of itself that opens the door to multiple interpretations about aspects like the value of the original, the role of the white surface as an image of modernity, and the importance of materiality in the perception of space" said the creators.
Many artists have brought attention to and mocked the lack of life in the cool, sleek structure by holding temporary installations within the pavilion. In 2017, architects Anna and Eugeni Bach altered the pavilion to a white box, the purest vision of its form, showing the precision of its geometry. The Roman travertine, golden onyx, green alpine and ancient green marble were covered with white vinyl screens. “This simple act turns the pavilion into a 1:1 scale mock-up, a representation of itself that opens the door to multiple interpretations about aspects like the value of the original, the role of the white surface as an image of modernity, and the importance of materiality in the perception of space" said the creators.
Phantom by Andres Jaques was an installation that set out to show the world the reality of the pavilion by exposing the contents of its basement. Broken windows that had been replaced, seat cushions worn down and replaced due the masses of tourist visiting each year, and cracked travertine. All these show that even in the sleek and pristine pavilion, human life occurs. Things age and break, maintenance occurs, life happens.
Despite aesthetically flawless and stunning design, Mies van der Rhoe has encountered a few dramas with functionality. Farnsworth house near Chicago stirred controversy and started a chain of legal battles with the client Dr Edith Farnsworth, over the final cost of the building coming as a surprise to Dr Farnsworth, as well as a rumoured personal disagreement. Dr Farnsworth complained that despite the beauty of her new home, it was like living in a glass cage, a design not compatible with real life and functional living. In her memoirs she wrote, “Do I feel implacable calm?...The truth is that in this house with its four walls of glass I feel like a prowling animal…What else? I don’t keep a garbage can under my sink. Do you know why? Because you can see the whole ‘kitchen’ from the road on the way in here and the can would spoil the appearance of the whole house. So I hide it in the closet farther down from the sink. Mies talks about his ‘free space’: but his space is very fixed. I can’t even put a clothes hanger in my house without considering how it affects everything from the outside. Any arrangement of furniture becomes a major problem, because the house is transparent, like an X-ray”.
In making the pilgrimage to the Barcelona pavilion as an architecture student a few years ago, I was in awe of the precision, the clean geometry that seamlessly cut the floor plan creating spaces within spaces, and the sensitive use of materials. But in hindsight, I ask, is the “less is more” mantra applicable to design (and perhaps lifestyle) as a whole. Is there a balance between stunning, simple design, and functionality? How do you design for people who by nature need and create mess, while still not detracting from the atmosphere created by simple design? This, I feel, has still to be perfected.