Critical Architecture and Mies van der Rohe

The key ideas we read about in the article were the different interpretations between architecture defined by culture and architecture defined by form. The architecture defined by culture “emphasizes culture as the cause and content of built form” (Critical Architecture, 2). To us this means the culture of the time influenced how and why a specific form was built.  The architecture defined by form was made to function and ignored social and cultural influences.

We found that Mies used culture in a different way than architects had previously done in the past. He focused less on trends and more on the needs and wants of the public. He emphasized form and function in his designs while using unique and innovative materials of the time. 

Freebase, "Ludwig Mies van der 

Rohe's Friedrichstrasse skyscraper

 project." Accessed September 16, 2011. http://www.freebase.com/view/wikipedia/images/en_id/5280380.