Detlef Mertins's Mies (2014) is a book that offers a well-illustrated, comprehensive, and thorough portrait of the career and reception of the renowned German-American architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886-1969) (1). As its title suggests, this book has a general approach. It presents Mies's canonical works in chronological order instead of focusing on specific works or aspects of his legacy. Considering that several authors have already adopted this general approach, from Philip Johnson (1978 [1957, 1947]) to Jean Louis Cohen (2007 [1996]) (2), one might ask: how does this book differ from previous publications?

Mertins answers this question in the introduction: 'This book draws more extensively than previous monographs on what he [Mies] read and the contexts within which he worked – historical and artistic, as well as intellectual' (3). Thus, this book aims to fill a gap in the literature. As Mertins explains, among preceding authors, Fritz Neumeyer (1991 [1986]) has made the most extensive use of Mies's library, but still referred to only a limited number of the almost 800 books Mies is known to have had (4). Mertins further explores these literary sources and historical conditions to advance the understanding of the complex relationships between the philosophical, cultural, social and political ideas of the architect and his buildings, intentions, and deeds.

Another contribution of Mertins's book is the expansion of the meanings of Mies's work (5). Mertins not only provides his own up-to-date interpretations of this architect's legacy, but also comments on various interpretations by historians, critics, artists, colleagues, clients, and the inhabitants of Mies's buildings. The author considers negative and positive interpretations, providing a balanced panorama, without, however, losing sight of the positive conviction that Mies's mode of practice is his great legacy (6).

Mies's modus operandi reflects his quest to condense a contemporary worldview into sensible form,  and to explore the potentials of emerging technologies and spatial organizations. His goal was to open a new landscape and to achieve an architecture that was representative of its own historical period (7). Mertins explains that this modus operandi was animated by 'critical realism', an intricate neo-kantian philosophy that Mies's first client, the Austrian philosopher Alois Riehl, developed. According to this philosophy, the knowledge of self and of external objects flows from the interaction between subject and object, feeling and quality, appearance and thing-in-itself, transcendental and empirical factors (8).

Mertins argues that the value of Mies's modus operandi lies in offering insight into life's changing character and inevitable tensions (9). The author elaborates on these tensions throughout the book, showing that Mies's work is simultaneously conservative and radical, complicit and resistant, classical and modern, ordinary and extraordinary (10). Thus, Mertins further explores a theme that was previously addressed by Fritz Neumeyer in the chapter 'Architecture for the Search for Knowledge: The Double Way to Order'  of the book The artless word: Mies van der Rohe on the building art (1991 [1986]) (11).

According to Mertins, Mies's modus operandi continues to be relevant as it responded to the beginning of the current period of modernization, which is characterized by the emergence and  diffusion of the information technologies and genetics. Mertins adds that the clarification of this modus operandi is important because it has been frequently misunderstood. Especially in his late life, Mies was seen as someone who had developed rigid formulas, even though he continued to experiment and to explore new possibilities. This misunderstanding has led to the production of formulaic, frozen, and dogmatic works that lack vital tensions and that are an easy target for critics (12). Mertins suggests that this misunderstanding reflects the inadequacy of Mies's words and teaching to hand down the key principles of his own work (13). In addressing a related issue, Mies once stated, 'if the idea is demonstrated in an objective way, everybody should be able to understand it. But, of course, few people ever do' (14).

Despite the broad scope of his book, Mertins recognizes that: 'much more could, of course, be said on all these fronts, and various historical issues are only barely broached' (15). In fact, for example, his detailed study of Mies's swan song, the New National Gallery in Berlin (1962-68), still could have further explored the relationships between this building and its site, which, as Mertins explains, was selected by the architect even before the decision to build a museum had been formally made (16). Among the unique elements of this site located in the Kulturforum is the neighboring St.-Matthäus-Kirche (1844-6), which is the sole building in that central area of Berlin that survived World War II. Mies's project shows respect for this historic building by adopting its general alignments, a lower height, and a setback that preserves the view of the church. In fact, the church remains visible even from the interior of Mies's museum because of its large glass walls. It was not the first time that Mies had deliberately inserted his modern proposal into a traditional setting. The model of the Round Glass Skyscraper that he promoted in exhibitions and publications during the early 1920s was surrounded by traditional houses, which Mies described as being an absolutely necessary addition to his work (17). As in this model, the nearness of Mies's modern museum to the historic church clarifies the unique qualities of each building by reinforcing the contrast between new and old, horizontal and vertical, steel and brick, large and small openings. On the other hand, this nearness also reinforces the similarities between these buildings, strengthening Mertins's argument that the New National Gallery 'is the secular version of the cathedral Mies always wanted to build but never did, the place for contemplating art and issues of the human spirit' (18).

As a posthumous publication finalized by a team of colleagues (19), the book Mies crowns the career of an eminent scholar. Building upon a profound and vast knowledge of primary and secondary sources, this book also significantly enriches the Miesian literature, guiding young students and mature scholars to a deeper understanding of Mies van der Rohe's legacy and relevance at the dawn of the 21st century.

notes

1
MERTINS, Detlef. Mies. Phaidon, London, 2014, p. 6.

2
JOHNSON, Philip (1947). Mies van der Rohe. 3 edição, New York, Museum of Modern Art, 1978; COHEN, Jean Louis (1996). Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, 2 edição. Basel, Birkhauser, 2007.

3
”This book draws more extensively than previous monographs on what he [Mies] read and the contexts within which he worked – historical and artistic, as well as intellectual”. MERTINS, Detlef. Op. cit., p. 7-8.

4
MERTINS, Detlef. Op. cit., p. 468 (n. 10); NEUMEYER, Fritz (1986). The artless word: Mies van der Rohe on the building art. Mass, MIT, Cambridge, 1991.

5
MERTINS, Detlef. Op. cit., p. 8.

6
MERTINS, Detlef. Op. cit., p. 9.

7
MERTINS, Detlef. Op. cit., p. 8, 10.

8
HEIDELBERGER, Michael. From Neo-Kantianism to Critical Realism: Space and the Mind-Body Problem in Riehl and Schlick, Perspectives on Science, 2007, vol. 15, n. 1.

9
MERTINS, Detlef. Op. cit., p. 11, 440.

10
MERTINS, Detlef. Op. cit., p. 6, 10, 275, 380.

11
MERTINS, Detlef. Op. cit., p. 468 (n. 1).

12
MERTINS, Detlef. Op. cit., p. 7, 440-441, 503 (n. 128).

13
MERTINS, Detlef. Op. cit., p. 440.

14
”if the idea is demonstrated in an objective way, everybody should be able to understand it. But, of course, few people ever do”. MIES VAN DER ROHE, Ludwig, 1959. In PUENTE, Moisés. Conversations with Mies van der Rohe, Princeton Architectural Press, New York, 2008, p. 24.

15
”much more could, of course, be said on all these fronts, and various historical issues are only barely broached”. MERTINS, Detlef. Op. cit., p. 9.

16
MERTINS, Detlef. Op. cit., p. 389.

17
MIES VAN DER ROHE, Ludwig, 1923, Carta para Walter Gropius, Papers of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington DC. Conforme citado em: PAPAPETROS, Spyros, Malicious houses: animation, animism, animosity in German architecture and film – from Mies to Murnau. Grey room, n. 20, Summer 2005, p. 23.

18
”is the secular version of the cathedral Mies always wanted to build but never did, the place for contemplating art and issues of the human spirit”. MERTINS, Detlef. Op. cit., p. 399.

19
MERTINS, Detlef. Op. cit., p. 543.

about the author

Luciana Fornari Colombo is assistant professor of Architecture and Urban Planning at the Federal University of Santa Maria, Cachoeira do Sul, RS, Brazil. She received her doctoral degree in Architecture from the University of Melbourne, Australia (2012); and her bachelor's degree in Architecture and Urban Planning from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil (2007).