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VILLA TUGENDHAT

LUDWIG MIES VAN DER ROHE


BY

STANLEY WONG KHUNG YOU (0317236)


PUA KEE HUI (0316672)
KHOR XIN SUAN (0316230)
JOASH LIM YUN-AN (0317197)
KONG REN HENG (0316416)
SPATIAL ORGANIZATION

BY

STANLEY WONG KHUNG YOU


Villa Tugendhat was designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and was built in the

year 1930. It is one of the pioneering prototypes of modern architecture in Europe

which followed Mies ‘less is more’ philosophy.

Villa Tugendhat is designed by using grid organization. Its main space which is

the living room is punctuated by a grid of structural-steel columns, making the floor plan

square and equally spaced. Villa Tugendhat uses a grid of two foot intervals which can

be clearly seen in the tiling pattern of its forecourt entry.

On the upper floor, the private areas show the simplicity and linear use of the

grid. Every sleeping area has been gathered into continuous blocks without any

projecting edges, allowing pure continuous lines of the modernist aesthetic. It

differentiates the public and private spaces, thus creating a stabilized family life.

On the lower floor, the organization becomes a lot more open. This openness

can be referred as a free plan. Each space on the lower floor utterly fits systematically

within a linear side-by-side construct identical to that of the upper level.

The circulation in Villa Tugendhat is free and directed even though this would

not be possible without the pure steel framework structure which allow the removal of

the heavy load bearing walls, it is reinforced by the free plan. This plan allows people to

move through the grid without being pushed to other direction, creating a random

movement pattern.
The entrance of Villa Tugendhat is formed by superficial geometry. It is like a

large horizontal plane supported by a single post which forms the roof and also a series

of framed vertical windows. These features form the entry of Villa Tugendhat. The

geometry used is simply clean and basic.

In conclusion, Villa Tugendhat clearly reflects Mies’ philosophy, ‘less is more’ as

the simple openness of its plan creates a sense of flow and freedom that liberates its

resident.
Reference:

1) ‘THE BUILDING’
HTTP://WWW.TUGENDHAT.EU/EN/VILLA-TUGENDHAT/THE-BUILDING.HTML
2) ‘Tugendhat Villa in Brno’
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1052
3) ‘Czech Republic Land of Stories’
http://www.czechtourism.com/c/brno-unesco-tugendhat-villa/
4) Rowan Moore, ‘Villa Tugendhat, Brno, Czech Republic – review’
http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2012/apr/06/villa-tugendhat-mies-
brno-moore
5) ‘Tugendhat House’
http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Tugendhat_House.html
6) Cnachreiner, ‘Geometry as a system of spatial order in modernist architecture’
21 January 2012
http://insitudesignsense.blogspot.com/2012/01/geometry-as-system-of-spatial-
order-in.html
7) Dietrich Neumann, ‘Can one live in the Tugendhat House?’
http://www.cloud-cuckoo.net/journal1996
2013/inhalt/en/issue/issues/112/Articles/3.2%20%20%20Neumann.pdf
STRUCTURE, MATERIALS

AND

CONSTRUCTION

BY

PUA KEE HUI


Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, architect of Villa Tugendhat, was born on March 27

1886 in Aachen, the son of Jakob Mies (a dealer in marble) and Amalia Rohe. He was a

well-known architect with the dictum “Less Is More” which depicts on the building that

he designed e.g. Barcelona Pavilion and Farnsworth House. Villa Tugendhat was

commissioned by Fritz Tugendhat, a Jewish factory owner and completed within 14

months in Brno, Czech Republic. It was one of the masterpiece produce by Mies van der

Rohe that represents modern architecture (Modernism) which recorded on the UNESCO

List of World Cultural Heritage.

The structure of the villa is revolutionary with steel frame construction which

consists of 29 steel columns punctuated through the building supporting the structure

without any load-bearing walls with the combinations of steel beams and steel girders,

joined together at their intersections. Cruciform supporting columns of a cross-section

with riveted angles are made from German steel. The columns on the terraces have

brass cladding with patina coating to a bronze in copper color while the columns in the

main living area have brass chromium plating with a bright luster. The uniqueness of the

design enabled unlimited ways of handling the interiors as well as the generous glazing

of the façade.
With the vanishing columns, the full-size sliding windows which runs the full 24

meter of the space from top to bottom transform the living area into a theatre box in

the sky, enhancing the feeling of “floating world”. The individual functional zones in the

living room are articulated by free standing wall of honey-colored onyx with white veins

and half-circular wall of Macassar ebony wood. The Onyx wall separates the living area

and the library area while the dining area is partially enclosed by the curved wall. The

open expanse and light transparency of that space shown in different functional zones

seemed to meet the demands for a “liberated form of living” that were prevalent at that

time.

The villa was composed of three levels (including the basement), with different

floor plans and forms, each relating differently to the sloping site. The Southeast and

garden facades were completely glazing from floor to ceiling while the third floor is

connected to the street level. The house was not orientated to the street but to the

garden. The street face is relatively modest, whereas the garden aspect, with its

continuous glass front, conveys an impression of spacious, privileged lifestyle.

The interior’s marked aesthetic quality, combined with the idealized dialogue

with the landscape, inspired a contemporary critic to remark that Mies here showed

how to elevate oneself above purely rational and functional thinking. In addition, his

concept “Less is More” is fully expressed throughout the whole building with the lack of

lavish ornaments and colored paintings. Natural stones and wood as well as simple

white coloured finishes is applied to confess the essential elements of our lives.
Reference:

1) "THE STRUCTURE, VILLA TUGENDHAT." . N.p.. Web. 7 Apr 2014.


<http://www.tugendhat.eu/en/the-building/the-structure.html>.

2) "THE MATERIALS, VILLA TUGENDHAT." . N.p.. Web. 7 Apr 2014.


<http://www.tugendhat.eu/en/the-building/the-materials.html>.

3) Julus, Gianakos. "AD Classics: Villa Tugendhat / Mies van der Rohe." . ArchDaily,
09 Sep 2011. Web. 7 Apr 2014. <http://networkedblogs.com/mP9no>.

4) Rowan, Moore. "Villa Tugendhat, Brno, Czech Republic – review." . theguardian,


06 Apr 2012. Web. 7 Apr 2014.
<http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2012/apr/06/villa-tugendhat-mies-
brno-moore>.

5) RUDY, GODINEZ. "Mies van der Rohe, Villa Tugendhat, (1930)." tumblr, n. d. Web.
7 Apr. 2014. <http://rudygodinez.tumblr.com/post/67886863467/mies-van-der-
rohe-villa-tugendhat-1930>.

6) "Mies van der Rohe - biographical outline." . mies barcelona. Web. 7 Apr 2014.
<http://www.miesbcn.com/en/biographical.html>.

7) Lilly, Reich. "Villa Tugendhat." Brno, Czech Republic by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.
Architects, Architecture, Architectuul. Web. 7 Apr 2014.
<http://architectuul.com/architecture/villa-tugendhat>.
COMPONENTS

BY

KHOR XIN SUAN


Ludwig Mies van der Rohe is the architect of Villa Tugendhat which is built at the

request of Grete and Fritz in Brno. He is well known of his dictum “God is in the details”.

He emphasises the significant of details and one should focus on the details in every

aspect.

In Villa Tugendhat, Mies does not use walls as dividers in fact he uses them as

partitions. Walls are used to separate a space without using doors or similarly framed

openings. This allowed the spaces to flow together, yet still be unique and individual

spaces. A curved wall of opaque etched glass hides the front door from the street but

also encourage movement towards it. On the external side of the glass is glossy, while

on the internal side it is a matte surface. The curved wall houses the main staircase that

leads to the living room.

Moroccan onyx partition wall used to separate the main living space. There are

five full-height slabs placed next to one another for the impressive veining of the

material. Two of the panels are matched to give the wall a slight asymmetry, or off-

centre balance. The curved Makassar ebony wood screen located beside the onyx

partition wall perfectly cupped the dining room table. It also allows the diners to focus

their attention toward the view beyond the expanse of glass.

Large windows surrounded the space provide a clear view of the garden below.

Few of them are retractable window that can be lowered into basement to allow direct

connection with the garden and create indoor outdoor effect.


There are two types of steel column used in Villa Tugendhat, reminiscent of the

Barcelona Pavilion. First is the cruciform undulating brass column cover that placed at

the exterior give the effect of dematerialization. Next, the cruciform chromium-plate

cased columns are held back into the building from the fifteen foot large glass wall

giving view to the gardens. The exquisite and highly complex detail makes the column

appear smaller and slimmer than the other geometry shapes while providing interesting

shadow lines. They punctuated the space at regular intervals following the grid system.

Mies van der Rohe also hides the connection between floor and column to increase the

aesthetic value.

The door handle designed by Mies is nice both for its simple shape and the way

the plate is set into the glass door. Circles occur in the plate, the handle and the keyhole,

providing a consistent design feature. He inserted a full height doors in parents’ room

which initially rejected by Grete and Fritz.

Mies van der Rohe does not include excessive decoration in his designs; in fact

he brings in the nature of the material for instance onyx and Makkasar ebony wood that

have impressive and unique vein details to be the show pieces of the building. He

designed every element of the house from the tiles to the ceiling, including the furniture

makes them in coherence.


Reference:

1) “Tugendhat House”, Nov 6 2012


http://atfpa3y4.wordpress.com/2012/11/06/casa-tugendhat/
2) “The Villa Tugendhat” http://www.private-prague-guide.com/article/the-villa-
tugendhat-an-architectural-gem-in-brno/
3) “Must know modern homes”
http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/17302468/list/Must-Know-Modern-Homes--
Mies-van-der-Rohe-s-Villa-Tugendhat
4) Neil Fraser, “Structure Tectonics Atectonics”
http://www.academia.edu/5959767/B_A_H_O_N_S
5) “The material”, Villa Tugendhat http://www.tugendhat.eu/en/the-
building/thematerials.html
6) Kyrill Convenant, “le courier de l’ architecte”, March 18 2012
http://www.lecourrierdelarchitecte.com/article_3029
7) Dietrich Neumann, “Can one live in Tugendhat House?” , 2012
http://www.cloud-cuckoo.net/journal1996-
2013/inhalt/en/issue/issues/112/Articles/3.2%20%20%20Neumann.pdf
8) “Iconic Houses.org” , 2012 http://www.iconichouses.org/specials/villa-
tugendhat/villa-tugendhat
MASSING/ FORM

BY

JOASH LIM YUN-AN


Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, was a German-American architect, he is widely

regarded as one of the pioneering masters of modern architecture. He created an

influential twentieth-century architectural style, stated with extreme clarity and

simplicity as follows his famous dictum of “Less Is More”. He strove toward architecture

with a minimal framework of structural order balanced against the implied freedom of

free-flowing open space such as Barcelona Pavilion, Villa Tugendhat and Farnsworth

House. He uses boxy, steel and glass architecture on most of his projects.

Villa Tugendhat takes a basic form of a rectangular shape. Its form develops from

additive and subtractive transformation causing a simple basic shape of rectangle to

become a complex shape.

The front elevation of the Villa Tugendhat which is facing towards the street acts

like a backbone of the structure therefore the front elevation is relatively heavier and

stronger compared to the back elevation which is facing the garden. It is also seen that

there are more windows located at the back elevation showing the mass is lighter than

the front elevation which has a greater span of wall and lesser windows.

The front elevation has to be heavier to support the weight of the building as Villa

Tugendhat is seated on a slope. So the structure needs to have a heavier mass on the

higher side of the slope which is the front elevation which acts as a backbone of the

structure. If the back elevation has a heavier mass it will cause the whole structure to

collapse due to the angle of the slope.


Conclusion, since he’s concept of boxy, steel and glass architecture which is

considered to be as lightweight architecture, it allows Villa Tugendhat to be seated on

the slope due to the light weight glass located at the back elevation.

Reference:

1) "Ludwig Mies van der


Rohe."http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_Mies_van_der_Rohe. N.p.,
7 Apr 2014. Web. 8 Apr 2014.
THE EXTERNAL FACADE

BY

KONG REN HENG


Villa Tugendhat, one of the most important buildings in the modern era of

architecture, was designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe for the Tugendhat family.

Ludwig’s most famous dictums “Less is more” and “God is in the details” were fully

translated into the villa and also other significant building such as the Barcelona Pavilion.

His idea of modernity and bold designs in architecture have made him one of the most

prominent architects in the modern era.

Ludwig’s philosophy of “Less is more”, that no unnecessary ornamentations

should be added on a building, is fully expressed in The Villa Tugendhat. It is styled with

interesting façade which was stripped of all ornamentations, yet it does not appears to

be bare or unfinished with its plain surface and boxy design. The building fully embodied

Ludwig’s idea of modernity with its extreme simplicity and clarity that became a new

style and new way to represent the modern architecture era and broke away from

everything from the past, such as the contradiction between this villa and the cathedrals

in Gothic era, or the Renaissance buildings, both with facades heavily decorated with

statues, paintings and so on.

Glass windows and plain-white concrete are two most prominent elements

which formed the façade of the villa. They contributes to the simplicity in design of the

villa with no extra furnishings. Moreover, instead of being hidden and masked with

decorations, these materials appear in their most natural form express a sense of

honesty.
The garden of the villa was also designed by Ludwig himself. The location of the

villa is carefully chosen and deliberately arranged so that it would sit on a large grassed

space and would be isolated with green vegetation. The villa engages itself with the site

context and creates an “optical disappearance”, as if it was hidden in or blended with

the surrounding green environment.

In conclusion, Ludwig expressed his modernistic ideas and designs fully in the

Villa Tugendhat’s façade and its relation to the site context.

References:

1. Iconichouse.org. “House dissolved in green.”


http://www.iconichouses.org/specials/villa-tugendhat/villa-tugendhat
(Retrieved 8th April 2014).
2. Villa Tugendhat. “The garden.” http://www.tugendhat.eu/en/villa-
tugendhat/the-building.html (Retrieved 8th April 2014).
3. Blaser, Werner. Mies van der Rohe, Sixth edition. Basel; Boston; Berlin:
Birkhäuser, 1997. (Retrieved 8th April 2014).

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