Broken Glass : : Mies van der Rohe, Edith Farnsworth, and the Fight Over a Modernist Masterpiece
Book - 2020 720.977 Be 1 On Shelf No requests on this item
Sign in to request
Locations
Call Number: 720.977 Be
On Shelf At: Downtown Library
Location & Checkout Length | Call Number | Checkout Length | Item Status |
---|---|---|---|
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout |
720.977 Be | 4-week checkout | On Shelf |
"In 1945, Edith Farnsworth asked the German architect Mies van der Rohe, already renowned for his avant-garde buildings, to design a weekend home for her outside of Chicago. Edith was a woman ahead of her time--unmarried, she was a distinguished medical researcher, whose discoveries put her in contention for the Nobel Prize, as well as an accomplished violinist, translator, and poet. The two quickly began an intimate relationship, spending weekends together, sharing interests in transcendental philosophy, Catholic mysticism, wine-soaked picnics, and architecture. Their collaboration would produce one of the most important works of architecture of all time, a blindingly original house made up almost entirely of glass and steel. But the minimalist marvel, built in 1951, was plagued by cost over-runs and a sudden chilling of the two friends' mutual affection. Though the building became world-famous, Farnsworth found it impossible to live in the transparent house, and she began a public campaign against him, cheered on by Frank Lloyd Wright. Mies, in turn, sued her for unpaid monies. The ensuing trial covered not just the missing funds and the structural weaknesses of the home, but turned into a trial of modernist art and architecture itself. Interweaving personal drama and cultural history, Alex Beam presents a stylish, enthralling tapestry of a tale, illuminating the fascinating history behind one of the twentieth-century's most beautiful and significant architectural projects"-- Provided by publisher.
REVIEWS & SUMMARIES
Library Journal ReviewSummary / Annotation
Table of Contents
Excerpt
Author Notes
COMMUNITY REVIEWS
Broken Glass submitted by downing on August 7, 2022, 3:52pm Broken Glass was fine
PUBLISHED
New York : Random House, [2020]
Year Published: 2020
Description: 337 p.
Language: English
Format: Book
ISBN/STANDARD NUMBER
9780399592713
0399592717
SUBJECTS
Mies van der Rohe, Ludwig, -- 1886-1969.
Farnsworth, Edith.
Farnsworth House (Plano, Ill.)
Architecture and society -- United States -- History -- 20th century.