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House as museum

Photos: Mel Theobald

sense of space Farnsworth House

Farnsworth House is an ethereal weekend retreat built on the banks of the river Fox near Plano in Illinois, a town approximately 60 miles south-west of Chicago. In 1945, German architect Ludwig Mies van der Roe was appointed by Chicago-based Edith Fa rnsworth to design a country home where she could get away from the city and enjoy Nature.

Mies conceived of Farnsworth House as an icon of 20th Century Modern architecture and it is universally considered to be the zenith of International Style in America.

With Nature surrounding the house providing the privacy, Mies was able to create a continuous glass wall that allowed residents to commune with Nature. The physical elements of the building are barely seen.

Mies’s International Style movement had a great influence on the architects of the U.S. His famous dictum, “Less is more”, became a motto for modern architects around the world. The simple one-storey house is located on a secluded site along the river. At first, this modern house may seem out of place with the surrounding greenery, but a closer look at the design reveals that it is actually celebrating Nature in distinct ways.

Mies planned the location and orientation of the house to make use of the natural environs. The house is situated far from the road at the south end of the 58-acre site.

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