In between crystalline and transparent. The skyscraper in Friedrichstrasse by Mies van der Rohe

Abstract

Crystalline qualities of glass were very appreciated by Expressionism. Some years later, transparency became a keystone for the Modern Movement. Mies van der Rohe drew his entry for the Friedrichstrasse Competition in 1921, in a moment of transition between both architectonical movements. The aim of this article is to show how the graphic documents made by Mies exemplify this change of tendency. His representation of the glazed enclosure evolves from opaque reflection to a partial transparency that shows the inner structure. This process confirms the importance of structural conception for the architectural form. These drawings show the beginning of a new poetic of transparency, for its author as for Modernism.

Keywords

• expresionismo
• mies van der rohe
• rascacielos de vidrio
• arquitectura moderna alemana
• transparencia