Lessons we should learn from a failed project of Mies

I have finished reading Gabriela Naranjo's thesis about the Resor House designed by Mies Van der Rohe, an unbuilt house in the USA, which marked the beginning of Mies's career in that country.

It is undoubtedly an interesting piece of work although aside from the project, some ideas came up about Mies as an architect and his professional practice.

Firstly, everyone accepts the legacy of Mies as a creator and developer of some of the most influential ideas in modern architecture. His iconic buildings such as the Farnsworth house or the Seagram building have become significant references for plenty of students and architects across the globe.

However, it is essential to take a look beyond Mies's creativity, and analyze thoroughly how his ideas collided with his clients' requirements.

To exemplify this, when Mies started off designing the Resor House, his clients set several restrictions for him. The site, materials, budget, and a pre-existing building needed to be taken into account, but by the time Mies finished the first version of the house the Resors had realized that the proposal was so expensive.

Mies did not consider any budget, so the house was not affordable for its owners. Mies designed a huge house in terms of area, and wanted to utilize a special glass that was not available in the US at that time.

Therefore, in a bid to reduce construction costs, Mies worked on a second design version which was smaller. Besides the area, the architect made a substantial change in converting the house into a simple glass pavilion. It was a universal idea that could be used in different settings, and it represented Mies's notion of simplicity. This archetype was used by him some years later in the Farnsworth house.

Mies once again rejected more of the original design restrictions. He altered the design in order to create a singular house that could have been located anywhere.

Consequently, the project was called off by the Resor family claiming the house would be extremely pricey.

At this point, it is interesting to reflect about what lessons can be learned from this story.

As architects, we should understand we provide professional services to people so that it is imperative to understand their needs primarily.

Moreover, through sincere dialogue architects can figure out how to respond efficiently to their client’s requirements.

Every architect has personal questions, ideas or concepts to explore, but ideally those ideas must be explored under certain conditions to ensure that both architect's and client's ideas are considered equally.

It doesn't seem very professional to be commissioned for designing a house within a specific budget and not to fulfill it because your desires are more important.

Finally, as architects, we should enhance our creativity by taking challenging projects. It is undoubtedly the perfect way to prove to ourselves that we are capable of creating breathtaking designs despite adversities.

Note: This essay is an attempt to improve my writing English skills.

I apologize in advance for any mistakes. Additionally, if you have any suggestions, feel free to reach out to me.