Conchoidal Chair without Arms (Perspective)
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
American, born Germany. 1886–1969
early 1940s
A pencil-on-paper design sketch in which Ludwig Mies van der Rohe explores a low, armless “conchoidal” chair, testing a continuous curved seat shell with planar, skirt-like supports to translate architectural clarity into furniture.
You notice the spare, confident pencil strokes that define a sinuous, molded seat and flared legs set against a wide, empty page, making the chair read as both sculptural and lightweight.
The drawing exemplifies Mies’s modernist credo—paring forms to structural essentials—and shows how his architectural thinking reshaped mid‑century furniture toward minimalist, formally integrated objects.
Medium
Pencil on paper
Dimensions
6 x 8 5/16" (15.2 x 21.1 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Mies van der Rohe Archive, gift of the architect
Accession
1081.1974
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
