mies tales

I stopped into work today to catch up with my team, since I hadn't seen anyone in a while (with the slowdown in work). We went out to lunch and ended up staying for a couple hours talking about the world of architecture, its ups and downs with the economy, and even some old stories of Mies [van der Rohe].

My favorite of the Mies stories was one about him towards the end of his life, when he was wheelchair bound. Evidently, he was a "late riser" (liked to sleep in) and word would be sent up to the office when he was on his way in. Since he was pretty well renowned even while alive, his younger workers really looked up to him and would work feverishly at their drafting. When Mies would arrive, he would roll over and watch them as they were drafting, but his wheelchair was so quiet that they wouldn't hear him coming and would be startled when they finally realized he was right at their side. In order to remedy this situation, it seems that someone stuck a playing card in his wheel, so that Mies would make a flapping noise as he rolled into and through the office, giving warning to all of his employees. Mies was also hard of hearing at this point, meaning he was none the wiser.

[Photo of Mies van der Rohe, 1969]