The New LEGO Farnsworth House & A Look At The Original by Mies van der Rohe.

Note: this post has been upated to include more images of the original Farnsworth House in honor of what would be Mies van der Rohe's 126th birthday.

The latest addition to LEGO® Architecture series is the stunning Farnsworth House built in 1951 by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe for Dr. Edith Farnsworth. The house, which has endured floods and other ravages of time, is now a historically protected landmark by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. (Images and info about the original Farnsworth house are later in this post).



LEGO Architecture is a collaboration between the LEGO Group and Chicago architect Adam Reed Tucker.

LEGO Architecture products come in two types: Landmark and Architect. The Landmark series features well-known buildings, while the Architect series focuses on the work of important architects. Mies van der Rohe is the second architect to be featured after Frank Lloyd Wright.



“We are proud to introduce Mies van der Rohe’s Farnsworth House, a new chapter in architectural history for LEGO Architecture. Our main job has been to capture the essence of this iconic design with our own celebrated icon, the LEGO Brick. We hope the model and the story behind the building will be an inspiration to kids and adults around the world” said Paal Smith-Meyer, Head of New Business at the LEGO Group.

A Word from the Artist, Adam Reed Tucker:

Farnsworth HouseTM celebrates our 10th model in the LEGO Architecture series. As a minimalist “Steel & Glass” modernist symbol of the 1950s, it delicately balances clean lines, volume of space, minimal structure, and expansive glazing, creating an inviting relationship between the natural and built environments.

In order to effectively replicate the balance between the refined white structural elements and expansive clear glazing, I started with the smallest cross section I could make for the vertical exterior columns. After several attempts, the most promising turned out to be using basic 1x1 bricks. Everything else essentially fell into place: the inviting steps, the floating floor and roof decks, the understated furnishings and cleverly designed built-ins. It’s fitting that recreating a minimalist symbol of modern architecture was done so with the simplest of LEGO bricks, the humble 1x1.

The assembled Farnsworth House model is over 10” (25cm) wide on a base with printed name label and includes a booklet with facts about the building, its construction and history.


above: assembled LEGO Farnsworth house courtesy of nightfury 21

* Architectural replica of the real-world Farnsworth House™
* Booklet included with details on design and history. (English language only)
* Measures over 10” (25cm) wide and 3” (7cm) tall
Buy It Here

About Mies van der Rohe's Farnsworth House:


Meis van der Rohe's Farnsworth House was designed and constructed between 1945 and 1951 as a one-room weekend retreat, located in a once-rural setting, 55 miles (89 km) southwest of Chicago on a 60-acre (240,000 m²) estate adjoining the Fox River, in the city of Plano, Illinois.





The steel and glass house was commissioned by a prominent Chicago medical specialist, Dr. Edith Farnsworth. She was highly intelligent, articulate, and intent on building a very special work of modern architecture. Her instructions to the architect, Mies van der Rohe, were to design the house as if it were for himself.




Mies created a 1,585-square-foot (140 m²) house that is now widely recognized as an architectural masterpiece. The home was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2006 after being added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2004. It is currently owned and run as a house museum by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.




The essential characteristics of the house are immediately apparent. The extensive use of clear floor-to-ceiling glass opens the interior to its natural surroundings to an extreme degree. Two distinctly expressed horizontal slabs, which form the roof and the floor, sandwich an open space for living. The slab edges are defined by exposed steel structural members painted pure white. The house is elevated five feet three inches (1.60 m) above the flood plain by eight steel columns, which are attached to the sides of the floor and ceiling slabs. The end of the slabs extend beyond the column supports, creating cantilevers. The house seems to float weightlessly above the ground it occupies.





The interior appears to be one large room filled with freestanding elements. The space is sub-divided but not partitioned, and flows around two wood blocks that Mies called “cores,” one a wardrobe cabinet and the other a kitchen, toilet, and fireplace block. The larger fireplace-kitchen core appears almost as a separate house nestling within the larger glass house. The materials used are quietly luxurious – travertine floors, primavera paneling and silk curtains – and the detailing minimal and meticulous.










On its completion, Farnsworth House™ received accolades in the architectural press. The timeless quality of this house is still regarded with reverent fascination by new generations of architects and designers around the world.



Facts about Farnsworth House
Location: Plano, Kendall County, Illinois, USA
Architect: Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
Building type: House. One-room weekend retreat
Materials: Steel and glass
Style: Modern
Date: From 1945 to 1951
Floor area: 1,585-square feet (140 m²)

Donate to help preserve the original Farnsworth House here


Books, movies and more about Mies van der Rohe

The Ultimate Bauhaus Doghouse: The Cubix

We've seen Bauhaus inspired Doll houses, miniature model homes, bikes and now, an abode for the pooch.

You may not want to drop thousands of dollars on a doghouse, but if you can (or are crazy enough to), this one is a beauty. Inspired by Bauhaus architecture, the spacious CUBIX is a hand built modern house for large or small dogs.

Designed by an architect, and entirely hand-crafted, the modern doghouse is made of wood and glass. The home has a seemingly free-floating roof with built-in water drainage as well as a cleaning flap on the back.



details:






The house is one of four luxurious styles designed and manufactured by the German company Best Friend's Home, and is available in three sizes:

Large:

the larger size (in centimeters): Width 140 / Depth 160 / Height 140 cm,
price: 4,250 EUR or $6,319.30 USD

Medium:
the medium size (in centimeters): Width 100 / Depth 70 / Height 100 cm,
price: 4,100 EUR or $6,096.27 USD

Small:

the smaller size (in centimeters): Width 70 / Depth 85 / Height 70 cm
price: 3,950 EUR or $5,873.24 USD

Buy them here.

One of four style homes from Best Friend's Home, other impressive designs include a Fairytale castle, a Traditional Colonial, A Georgian Manor or they will create a custom one for you.



Other styles available:




About Best Friend's Home:
Founded in Paderborn, the Germany-based company is the brainchild of Communications Designer Doria Keppler and Event Manager Andre Heinermann. "People who have a sure sense of design and aesthetics like to apply that to all things that surround them. "The type of Dog houses we'd like to have purchased and installed in our garden simply didn't exist" recall the two managing directors. "Eventually, we decided to develop and build them ourselves." Voila, the idea for Best Friend's Home was born. In collaboration with an architect, they created four types of houses; CUBIX, FAIRYTALE, ALABAMA and LÖNNEBERGA.


above: Andre Heinermann and Doria Keppler

All the best friend's dog houses are hand crafted from high quality wood and weather resistant paint. They have unbreakable real glass lens and each has the "Best Friend's Home" stainless steel plate with serial number

Orders can be placed online here or by telephone.
T. +49 (0) 5254 9350916
F. +49 (0) 5254 9350920

Best friend’s HOME GbR
Mühlenteichstraße 55
D-33106 Paderborn
info@bestfriendshome.com

Seems a bit outrageous? The take a look at this Pooch Palace:

Perhaps this unbelievable $382,000.00 home for dogs will put these in perspective.

Kathy Osborn Has Big Talent With Little Things And Little Ones.

Graphic artist, photographer, and children's book illustrator Kathy Osborn, is getting a lot of online attention for her miniature modernist construction of a 21st century house (shown in the photo above). And it is fabulous- as you will see later in this post.


Above: the multi-talented Kathy Osborn.

But she's done a lot more with miniature dolls and settings than you might think. In addition to this fabulous modern dollhouse, she's both photographed dolls in settings as well as completed a children's book based on a magical tour of a Dollhouse from a child's perspective.


Above: Kathy's illustration on the cover of the March, 1990 issue of the New Yorker

First off, her illustrations have graced the cover of New Yorker magazine as well as on and in several other publications. But personally, I am more impressed with her poignant photography and multimedia work than her illustrations.


Above: some of Kathy's illustrated children's books.

Kathy has illustrated five children's books to date. One of which has been chosen as one of the Best Children's books of 2008 by several reputable sources. She has also just completed a children's project called The Dollhouse, a magical tour of a dollhouse seen from a child's perspective.

The book has been described as "... a whimsical look into the world of miniatures, where there is a story within a story within a story; the little girl in the story discovers an even smaller girl who is playing with a smaller dollhouse, and so on, just like a Russian doll within another Russian doll."

But back to the actual Dollhouse model for now.

The article below ran in Wallpaper, and is making the rounds on blogs and ezines, but in doing a little research, I found more images of the project as well as discovered that she has has a series of photographic prints of the miniature dolls in miniature surroundings.

First the Bauhaus dolls' house and the article from Wallpaper (with some extra images):

Bauhaus dolls' house



Osborn embarked on her Bauhaus doll's house project due to a desire for better quality dolls and dolls' furniture. Originally, she aimed to create a replica of Philip Johnson's glass house, built in 1949, but was persuaded by friends to give her creativity a free run.



The creation of the doll's house started with 12 rough designs. The blueprints were given to Californian model architects J & G, who were also responsible for most of the furniture, apart from the mod-style chairs which were constructed by Japanese company REAC.



The kitchen as a whole is Osborn's own design, inspired by an 1948 advert for Youngstown kitchens, but the fridge and cabinets are original designs.




The result is a house that is artfully whimsical, which encapsulates its inhabitants in a fanciful suburbia. Osborn has no intention of the dolls' house being treated like your everyday plastic creation, but rather as a collector's item - a family heirloom.




She even made the dolls and their clothing:


---Wallpaper

Now, take a look at her photographic prints, captured moments and narratives that are infused with intimacy and loneliness seemingly simultaneously. They available for purchase on the beholder:







Each chromogenic print is a limited edition of 15 and can be purchased for $600.00 here.

In regards to whether or not the Bauhaus dolls' house will be available for purchase, I do not yet know, but I can assure you I'm looking into it and if it is, I will let you know. In the meantime, if you're a fan of miniatures, dolls' houses or architectural models, you might want to check out my growing list of modern dollhouses available for purchase here.

Related posts: Be sure to see the amazing miniature roomboxes of Peter Tucker and the architectural models of Mark Turpin.