The pivotal 20th-century architect, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe profoundly shaped modernism with his work. A native of Aachen, Germany, Mies began under Peter Behrens, collaborating with Walter Gropius and Le Corbusier. His iconic adage, "less is more," epitomized his minimalist style and innovation. His buildings used modern materials such as industrial steel and plate glass to define interior spaces. He strived towards an architecture with a minimal framework of structural order balanced against the implied freedom of free-flowing open space. Championing glass to blur indoor-outdoor divisions, he rose with the unrealized glass tower design for the Friedrichstrasse skyscraper (1921) and the renowned Barcelona Pavilion (1929) at the Barcelona Exposition. Mies directed Bauhaus before its Nazi-forced closure, gaining global recognition through the Museum of Modern Art's exhibition on "The International Style." Emigrating to the US in 1937, he pioneered Chicago's architectural scene with skyscrapers like Seagram Building and the transparent Farnsworth House.
