IIT Metallurgical and Chemical Engineering Building (Perlstein Hall), Chicago, Illinois, Exterior perspective
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
American, born Germany. 1886–1969
1944
A small colored-pencil-on-paper sketch by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe proposing the exterior of the IIT Metallurgical and Chemical Engineering Building, aiming to capture its planar volumes and exposed structural logic in a few decisive strokes.
You notice the economy of line first—soft red washes and quick pencil marks that lay out a low, flat-roofed block with an emphasized corner column and skeletal supports suggesting steel framing rather than surface decoration.
The drawing illustrates Mies’s method of reducing architecture to disciplined planes and visible structure, an important study in the development of his spare, influential modernist approach to institutional and corporate buildings.
Medium
Colored pencil on paper
Dimensions
6 x 8 1/2" (15.2 x 21.6 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Mies van der Rohe Archive, gift of the architect
Accession
MR4512.98
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
