Glass Skyscraper project (Elevation study)
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
American, born Germany. 1886–1969
1922
A charcoal, Conté crayon, and pencil elevation study in which Mies van der Rohe imagines a single, monolithic glass skyscraper to test its proportions, vertical rhythm, and presence on the street.
Visually the sheet is dominated by a towering band of closely spaced dark and lighter vertical stripes that feel monumental against the spare, pale paper and tiny silhouetted low buildings at the base.
The drawing helped crystallize the modernist idea of the glass curtain wall and the minimalist verticality that came to define the International Style and the 20th‑century skyscraper.
Medium
Charcoal, Conté crayon, and pencil on paper mounted on board
Dimensions
54 1/2 x 32 3/4" (137.8 x 83.2 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Mies van der Rohe Archive, gift of George Danforth
Accession
474.1974
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
