To celebrate the 126th birthday of famous German-American modernist architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Google has remade their signature logo as a modern steel and glass structure reminiscent of the master's work rendering of his 1956 steel and glass S.R. Crown Hall on the campus of the Illinois Institute of Technology.
The Farnsworth House in Plano, Illinois. (Photo: National Trust for Historic Preservation)
Here at the National Trust, we're big Mies fans. If you didn't already know, one of our own historic sites, the Farnsworth House, was designed by Mies van der Rohe, and it's one of the most famous examples of modern domestic architecture.
And so we join Google in wishing a very happy 126th birthday to Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Through preservation, commemoration, and the continued evolution of an iconic architectural style that he helped form, his legacy certainly lives on.
David Garber
David Garber is the Coordinator of Blog Content & Outreach at the National Trust for Historic Preservation. He is a native of Washington, DC, and loves the intersection of preservation, innovation, and sustainability.
![[10 on Tuesday] Rest](http://media-cache-ec4.pinimg.com/192x/c8/b2/34/c8b2343eebdadef03b6eb19f12cfdefb.jpg "[10 on Tuesday] Rest")
![[10 on Tuesday] One](http://media-cache-ec3.pinimg.com/192x/ec/73/c3/ec73c3a63b3b7579697bf4862329e2ad.jpg "[10 on Tuesday] One")
W. White
March 27, 2012
I would like to say that I am also a big Mies fan. As a preservationist who enjoys traditional architecture and urbanism, why would I not be a fan of one of the men who did more to destroy the traditional urban fabric of America than anyone else (with the exception of Le Corbusier, the Pol Pot of architecture).
On this day, the day of Mies van der Rohe’s birth, I will celebrate his birthday by looking at his legacy – blank, glass-walled steel boxes behind cold, grey, empty plazas that the homeless and pigeons find too inhospitable to inhabit. Then, I will look at all the terribly hideous buildings constructed by Mies’s disciples, which make his glass boxes and concrete plazas take on the qualities of gothic cathedrals in comparison.
Happy Birthday, Mies; thanks for everything; less is a bore.