A presentation on modern architecture structures by Ludwig Mies Van der Rohe - Farnsworth house and S.R Crown hall case study architecture by 2018 Batch SOA Kashmir

1. HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE SOA
KASHMIR
BAR-305
MODERN
ARCHITECTURE :
FARNSWORTH HOUSE
CROWN HALL
GROUP 4
RAFIYA MALIK
ANQA PARVEZ

2. FARNSWORTH HOUSE

3. CONTEXT
• Designed by Mies Van der
Rohe for his American client
Edith Farnsworth.
• Located in the Midst of the
parks surrounding the small
town of Plano some 80 km
South from the central
Chicago.
• Designed in 1945-1950 and
built in 1950-1951.
• In 1945, Farnsworth met Mies
and asked to design a small
weekend retreat for her on the
banks of the Fox River.

4. CONTEXT
• The construction was to be
done on 64-acre site, largely
within a flood plain.
• It was a transparent structure
with an open floor plan of 2400
square feet.
• Mies created three distinct
spatial interfaces: a
transparent house, a covered
terrace, and an open deck.
• Edith sold the house in 1975 to
a British Lord after living there
periodically for several
decades because of the
expenses of the house.

5. DESIGN
• Farnsworth House,
pioneering steel-and-glass
house.
• The structure’s modern
classicism epitomizes the
International Style of
architecture and Mies’s “less
is more.”
• Intended as a vacation home
or weekend retreat, the
house lacked storage space,
closets, and other
necessities of full-time living.

6. PLAN
• The house’s plan
consists of two
rectangular slabs
suspended above the
ground.
• A stair with four wide
steps leads up from the
ground to the terrace
slab measuring 16.8×7
meters.
• Connected by another
stair to the main floor of
the House i.e; 23.5 ×
8.8 meters.

7. FRONT ELEVATION
• The house is elevated 5 feet 3 inches (1.60 m) above a flood plain by eight wide flange
steel columns which are attached to the sides of the floor and ceiling slabs.
• From front side living room can be seen, with a fireplace inside by the transparent floor to
ceiling window panels used.

8. BACK ELEVATION
• Rear side has the view of kitchen from inside as the glass windows are from ceiling
to floor.
• The structure was made from steel skeleton with T- section and C- section columns

9. EAST ELEVATION
• From right side elevation,
there is the bedroom
space.
• Transparent glass is used
throughout the house to
connect nature with
domestic space.
• The envelope is made from
glass Panels 0.6 cm thick ,
2.9 m high and 3.2 m wide.

10. WEST ELEVATION
• The left side elevation
has the covered terrace
andmain entrance of
glass in the middle.
• The elevated ground
floor, and the wide
transcending steps,
indicates as if the house
is floating.
• The exterior includes
materials of steel,
natural stone, and glass.

11. LONGITUDINAL SECTION

12. CROSS SECTION

13. CONSTRUCTION
• Wide steps stair leads to
terrace and then another stair
leads to main house covered
by flat roof and closed by
glass walls for about one –
third.
• The house’s main structural
support consists the steel
skeleton provides an external
frame supporting the floor and
the roof.
• 8 double T- sections columns
in parallel rows 8.5 cm apart
from each other and they also
support 38 cm C – shaped
beam at the living area and
roof levels.

14. CONSTRUCTION
While many architects
attempt to conceal details
behind facades or within wall
buildups, Mies celebrated the
tectonic nature of the steel,
granting viewers an instant
understanding of how the
structure stands up and what
materials it is composed of.
Between the columns, the
floor and ceiling slabs are
edges with C-section girders
that wrap around the corners
to provide a seamless finish.

15. INTERIOR

16. INTERIOR

18. S.R CROWN
HALL

19. CONTEX
T • Designed by Mies Van der
Rohe for the Illinois Institute
of technology, Chicago.
• Construction started in 1950,
ended in 1956.
• Situated practically in the
center of the campus,
devoted to the study of
architecture.
• Mies refined the basic steel
and glass construction style,
with simplicity, clarity of forms
and elimination of
unnecessary details.

20. CONTEX
T • The masterplan of the
campus was based on a
24’ by 24’ inch grid.
• The grid was used as a
structural module to
locate columns.
• ‘Orderliness was the real
reason’ Mies stated about
the grid.
• Each building is separated
from the other by paths and
gardens.
• Average height is 3 to 4
levels to allow natural light
to all and not obstruct
views.

21. DESIGN
: • Configured as a self
contained building,
rectangular in shape
(36 x 67 meters) on two
levels : Main floor and
semi- buried floor.
• It is a free volume with
its walls of glass
surrounded by green
areas.
• The four sides permit
free entry of light and
use the views.
• Oriented from south to
north, main entrance
from south.

22. GROUND FLOOR
PLAN
• Main floor, comprises
a single glass
enclosed space,
raised 1.8m above
ground.
• Mies called this
universal space.
• Occupies of 50% of the
building, devoted to the
study of architecture.
• The only partitions are
free standing oak
partitions that mark
spaces for different
activities.

23. BASEMENT FLOOR
PLAN • The lower level is semi
buried space, with
1.8m above ground
and 0.6m beneath.
• Houses the Institute of
design’s workshops,
offices, machinery
room, equipment vaults
and washrooms.
• The floor is accessible
from inside through two
staircases in the middle
of the hall and from the
outside through two
staircases from rear
north side.

24. SITE
PLAN • Landscape for IIT was
designed by architect
Alfred Caldwell.
• The landscaping of most
of the campus consists of
carob trees and hawthorn
bushes.
• Intermediate green zones
and the pathways from a
network around the
campus, and allows
relationship between
building and nature as
seen in Farnsworth
house.

25. FRONT
ELEVATION • Uninterrupted
space with a flat
roof.
• The front view has
the main entrance
in the middle with
two platforms of
open riser stairs.
• It’s a horizontal
hall with coherent
and elegant
framing.

26. REAR
ELEVATION:
• Rear/ North
side has
entrance to the
main floor and
the basement
floor from
outside.
• External infills
are glass, the
lower part of
which is
frosted.

27. SIDE
ELEVATION • Supported by an
external steel
structure, with
clear references
to the industrial
buildings.
• Both the sides
elevations are
reverse of each
other.
• Top glass panels
are polished
whereas the
bottom ones are
sandblasted.

28. LONGITUDINAL
SECTION

29. CROSS
SECTION

30. STRUCTU
RE • Semi buried floor is
constructed with
columns on grid and
retaining walls.
• For the completely
open hall, the
structure was
relegated from
outside.
• Ceiling is
suspended to 4 six
ft. plate girders
welded to 8 H-
columns fixed to
them, forming
frames from north
and south axis of
the crown hall.

31. BUILDING
MATERIALS • Main materials are steel,
glass and concrete.
• Substructure has made use
of concrete in terms of
columns, retaining walls
and block partitions.
• Glass, upper being
polished and the bottom
being frosted, covers the
entire structure above
ground.
• Steel, used to support the
building and attach the
glass.

32. BUILDING
MATERIALS • Wood was used
for interior
partitions and
cabinets, and
also in
foundation
(wood piles).
• Flooring for the
hall is terrazzo,
while the stairs
and external
terraces on the
north and south
sides is
travertine.

33. RENOVATION
2005
• In Aug. 2005, crown hall
underwent major renovation
by Krueck and Sexton
architects.
• Original ‘Detroit graphite’
paint was replaced by lead
free black coating on the
structural steel.
• Glazing was completely
replaced by panels that
meet current wind load
requirements.
• Interior wood partitions and
lockers were refinished.
• Additional electrical and
ethernet wiring were added.