Farnsworth House: Analysis and re-reading of an icon of modern architecture

Presentation of the project

Studying the great masterpieces of architecture is an essential step in the training of future interior architects. In this project, the 2nd year Interior Architecture students looked at one of the most emblematic buildings of the modern movement: Farnsworth House.

Designed and built between 1946 and 1951 by the architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, in collaboration with the architect Noham, this house is located around 75 km south-west of Chicago, in an unspoilt natural environment on the banks of the Fox River, near the town of Plano.

Commissioned by physician Edith Farnsworth as a weekend residence, this 135 m² glass and steel house embodies the fundamental principles of modernist architecture: transparency, structural minimalism and direct dialogue with the landscape.

Now considered a major landmark in the history of architecture, the Farnsworth House is listed on the US National Register of Historic Places and has been designated a National Historic Landmark.

Exercise subject

In this exercise, the students carried out an in-depth architectural analysis of Farnsworth House in order to understand the design principles developed by Mies van der Rohe.

Using reference documents, they reconstructed and studied the structure and organisation of the project through various graphic documents:

• ground plan
  
• layout plans
  
• cross-sections and longitudinal sections,
  
• volume and circulation analyses.

This reconstruction work allows us to observe with precision the relationship between structure, space and landscape, at the heart of the Modernist approach.

Teaching objectives

The aim of this project was to develop students’ ability to analyse and understand a major work of architecture in order to grasp its spatial, structural and conceptual logic.

Through this exercise, they worked on :

• Reading and interpreting architectural documents,
  
• Graphically reconstructing an existing project,
  
• understanding the link between structure, space and environment,
  
• mastering the codes of architectural representation (plans, sections, layout).

Studying Farnsworth House also provides an opportunity to examine the foundations of modern architecture and the lasting influence of Mies van der Rohe’s thinking on contemporary practice.

Techniques used

To develop their analyses and representations, the students used various drawing and architectural design tools, combining digital representation and project graphics techniques:

• production of floor plans and architectural plans,
  
• cross-sections and spatial analyses,
  
• drawing and page layout tools.

By studying Farnsworth House, the students explored one of the purest manifestos of modern architecture, learning to decipher how an emblematic work articulates structure, space and landscape to create an architecture that is both radical and timeless.