Calder & Mies
The Mies Van der Rohe designed United States Post Office in Downtown Chicago's Loop.
MIES PROVES “GOD IS IN THE DETAILS”
"Modernism is the style that changed our visual world
in the 20th century, and Chicago’s Federal Center is among the world’s most important modernist sites.
These structures display the features that make great works of modernism so compelling: dramatic profiles, spatial energy, and striking visual contrasts and harmonies.
In his design process, Mies developed three different schemes for the site, playing with various combinations of government offices, a courthouse and a post office.
In his final design, he separated those functions into 3 distinct buildings all situated on an open plaza.
Today, The Plaza hosts festivals, farmers markets AND protests—activities that signify the vibrant relationships between citizens, business and government.
The glass + steel buildings are constructed on a rigid grid system.
Every element of the 3-building complex—
every column, light fixture, bench, door and paver—
lines up on the grid.
From the center of The Plaza,
you could spend hours finding all the places where the architectural elements align perfectly.
In fact, we dare you
to find one spot where they don’t.
Mies’ meticulous design illustrates another of his famous maxims, “God is in the details.”
Despite this rigidity, the Federal Center’s design
produces what architecture critic Franz Schulze
calls, “a monumental urban presence.”
Eliminating the usual pomp & circumstance of civic buildings, the Federal Center has become a beacon of the International Style and a Chicago icon."
Calder & Mies
The Mies Van der Rohe designed United States Post Office in Downtown Chicago's Loop.
MIES PROVES “GOD IS IN THE DETAILS”
"Modernism is the style that changed our visual world
in the 20th century, and Chicago’s Federal Center is among the world’s most important modernist sites.
These structures display the features that make great works of modernism so compelling: dramatic profiles, spatial energy, and striking visual contrasts and harmonies.
In his design process, Mies developed three different schemes for the site, playing with various combinations of government offices, a courthouse and a post office.
In his final design, he separated those functions into 3 distinct buildings all situated on an open plaza.
Today, The Plaza hosts festivals, farmers markets AND protests—activities that signify the vibrant relationships between citizens, business and government.
The glass + steel buildings are constructed on a rigid grid system.
Every element of the 3-building complex—
every column, light fixture, bench, door and paver—
lines up on the grid.
From the center of The Plaza,
you could spend hours finding all the places where the architectural elements align perfectly.
In fact, we dare you
to find one spot where they don’t.
Mies’ meticulous design illustrates another of his famous maxims, “God is in the details.”
Despite this rigidity, the Federal Center’s design
produces what architecture critic Franz Schulze
calls, “a monumental urban presence.”
Eliminating the usual pomp & circumstance of civic buildings, the Federal Center has become a beacon of the International Style and a Chicago icon."