LUDWIG MIES VAN DER ROHE: THE TUGENDHAT HOUSE.Edited by Daniela Hammer-Tugendhat and Wolf Tegethoff. Vienna: Springer. 2000. oS546.-(DM78) I am writing this sitting on my Brno chair The Brno chair (model number MR50) is a modernist cantilever chair designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe in 1929-1930 for the bedroom of the Tugendhat House in Brno, Czechoslovakia. , one of several pieces of furniture still in production which were originally designed for the Tugendhat house. The great free plan living space, and the furniture within it, must be one of the noblest images of European Modernism. Until recently difficult to visit, the house is being restored and at last has the book it deserves. It is co-edited by Wolf Tegethoff, author of Mies van der Rohe Van Der Ro·he See Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe. : The Villas and Country Houses and Daniela Hammer-Tugendhat, youngest daughter of the original clients. They have gathered an array of authors who, in addition to the editors' own contributions, give a complete picture of the house, its construction and its turbulent history. First a home for an affluent Jewish family, then offices for Messerschmidt, air raid damage, Russian barracks bar·rack 1 tr.v. bar·racked, bar·rack·ing, bar·racks To house (soldiers, for example) in quarters. n. 1. A building or group of buildings used to house military personnel. , dance school, childrens' hospital, government guest house and finally a museum. Clients are not given a high profile in most architecture books, this volume makes a welcome change. Apart from Daniela Hammer-Tugendhat's chapter on the habitability Fitness for occupancy. The requirement that rented premises, such as a house or apartment, be reasonably fit to occupy. A Warranty of habitability is an implied promise by a landlord of residential premises that such premises are fit for human habitation. of the house, there are papers by Grete Tugendhat, the original client. She loved living in the house, and Mies emerges as an architect very willing to listen to his clients. It is a different picture from the one we have of Mies and his other famous house client -- Edith Farnsworth. Especially interesting are the family photos. Usually presented as cold and austere, it is a revelation to see children playing and the Christmas tree Christmas tree Evergreen tree, usually decorated with lights and ornaments, to celebrate the Christmas season. The use of evergreen trees, wreaths, and garlands as symbols of eternal life was common among the ancient Egyptians, Chinese, and Hebrews. being decorated in those perfect spaces. Clearly the formal setting was no inhibition to the rough and tumble The first use of the term Rough and Tumble for fighting dates back to the early 1700s in the North American frontier. Rough and Tumble fighting was the original American No Holds Barred underground hybrid "sport" that had but one rule - you win by knocking the man out or making him of family life. |
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