Well, let me tell ya about this here Brick Country House by some fella named Mees or somethin’. Sounds fancy, but I’ll tell ya what I know. This Mies fella, he was an architect, which means he draws fancy houses for rich folks, I reckon. He built all sorts of things, not just houses, ya know. Big buildin’s and stuff. He even had some sayings, like “less is more.” Don’t ask me what that means, sounds like somethin’ a city slicker would say, heh.
Anyways, this Brick Country House, it ain’t standin’ no more, far as I know. See, it was just a plan, a drawin’ back in 1924. They got some pictures of the drawin’s, a perspective one and a floor plan, whatever that is. They say it was gonna be in Potsdam-Neubabelsberg, in Germany, which is way over yonder, across the big water. Heard this fella Mies, he even worked with some other fellas named Cor-boo-see-ay and Gropius. Musta been some smart fellas, always plannin’ and drawin’.
This Mies fella, he liked things simple, I guess. Like, straight lines and not too much fancy stuff. They call it “rectilinear forms”. Folks nowadays still talk about how he built stuff, this whole “International Style,” they call it. Sounds important, but to me, a house is a house, brick or wood, long as it keeps the rain out, right?
Now, this Brick Country House, it ain’t the only one he did, this fella Mies. Seems like later on, in 1949, after he moved to America, he did another one, alongside some Glass House. Said they were like two parts of the same thing. One was glass, all see-through, and the other was brick, real solid like. Connected by a grassy yard. Guess he liked that brick, huh? But this later one, they did build it. They still got pictures of it. Just a plain ol’ brick house, nothin’ too special if you ask me.
They got a whole archive of this Mies fella’s stuff, drawings and all. Ink on some fancy board, they say. Big too, like 30 by 40 somethin’. Don’t know how big that is in feet, but sounds big enough for a good-sized hog pen. They even got pictures this fella took, all nice and neat, of some buildin’ this Mies fella did in Barcelona for some fancy exposition. Guess he was a pretty big deal, travelin’ all over and buildin’ all sorts of things. He learned his trade from another fella, Behrens his name was, working as what they call an apprentice. Learnin’ the ropes, just like how young’uns learn farmin’ from their daddies.
- Seems like this Mies fella was always tryin’ to do things the “rational” way. Don’t know what that means, but I guess he liked to plan things out real good.
- And he was all about the structure, makin’ sure the buildin’ would stand up straight and strong, not like some of these new houses they build nowadays, fallin’ apart after a few years.
- He believed in keepin’ things simple and payin’ attention to the small stuff, said somethin’ about God bein’ in the details. Don’t know much about God or details but reckon if your fences aren’t built right the pigs are gonna get out.
So, that’s about all I know about this Brick Country House. Just a plan that never got built, but folks still talk about it cause this Mies fella was such a big shot architect. Seems like a lot of fuss over a house that ain’t even there, but that’s what them city folk do, I guess. They like to talk about things that don’t matter much to us country folk. As long as I got my roof over my head and my feet on solid ground, I’m happy. That’s more than this Mies fellas Brick Country House can say, now isn’t it?
Tags: Mies van der Rohe, Brick Country House, architecture, International Style, German architect, architectural drawings, Potsdam, Neubabelsberg, Glass House, less is more
