Farnsworth House. Plano, Illinois

The Farnsworth house, built by Mies van der Rohe, was completed in 1951. It was designed as a weekend retreat for Dr. Edith Farnsworth. The house was and still is a striking edifice, an excellent example of the International Style of architecture most prevalent in post war Europe. On the banks of the Fox River sits that which epitomizes Modern American Architecture. A building guaranteed to draw comments and elicit emotion. The house is in essence a rectangular box. The roof and floor being slabs of concrete, the walls made up almost entirely of glass.

The house's design is a sharp departure from the domestic designs of conventional wisdom. No dormers, no shutters, no double hung windows not even a shingled roof. The house epitomizes Mies philosophy of "Less is More", although some, Dr Farnsworth among them, have countered with the cry "Less is not more, it is simply less."

The house is a statement, a cry against the natural warmth of wood, against the convention of walls, against the acceptance of the norm. Yet the house is precisely logical, geometric, efficient and a physical embodiment of man's inherent search for order amidst chaos. Particularly apropos in this case as the house sits among the naturally chaotic setting of trees, undergrowth and water where nary a straight line can be found.

The Farnsworth house evokes the emotions and quite reflection of a temple rather than the casual comfort of a house. It forces contemplation rather than acceptance. It demands sacrifice instead of comfort. The house's façade is all glass, exposing the house's contents, while at the same time sharing them with the bucolic surroundings. The large glass expanse makes it seem to the person inside, that he or she is one with nature. Where someone standing in a traditional house may look at the walls and see framed pictures of art, a person in the Farnsworth house looks at the walls and sees the inspiration for art itself. To a person on the outside, the stark shape of the house, and it's alabaster white color, make the structure stand out in direct contradiction to it's green and brown natural wooded setting.

In 1962 the house passed from Dr. Farnsworth to Lord Palumbo (a distinguished member of the British Parliament, past chairman of the Arts Council of Great Britain and successful London real estate developer), who furnished the house using Mies van der Rohe designed furnishings. The house was now complete. The Mies van der Rohe epitome of simplicity, clarity and logic. Nothing superfluous, nothing specious.

The house is now a museum open to the public.