Illinois Institute of Technology, Metallurgy and Chemical Engineering Building (Perlstein Hall), Chicago, Illinois, Exterior perspective
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
American, born Germany. 1886–1969
1945-46
A Conté‑crayon perspective on illustration board in which Mies van der Rohe lays out a long, steel‑and‑glass metallurgy and chemical engineering building, using transparency and careful proportion to explain its form and siting.
The drawing strikes you with its delicate stippled shading and a strict horizontal grid—the tiny silhouetted figures, low trees, and pair of reclining sculptures give the translucent facade a clear human scale against a large, empty field of paper.
This work crystallizes Mies’s modernist ‘less is more’ approach, helping to establish the steel‑and‑glass, rational aesthetic that would define postwar academic and corporate architecture and reshape the American campus.
Medium
Conté crayon on illustration board
Dimensions
30 x 40" (76.1 x 101.5 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Mies van der Rohe Archive, gift of the architect
Accession
735.1963
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
