Freiraum: Ideas of nature and freedom in the work of mies van der rohe

To be in this world is to exercise liberty. Architecture is the place, practice and product of humankind’s perpetual effort to creatively establish its freedom. This is not to discuss the nature of freedom. Nevertheless, Natur und Freiheit can be identified as the constituents in the architectural work of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. In the defining image of the Landhaus in Backstein of 1924, Mies famously delineates space in a most liberating way. While the perspective remains a com - position of distinct volumes, the plan forsakes the usual distinctions between exterior and interior: three brick walls extend towards infinity and, in reaching beyond the limitations of the page, anchor the building in an implied, universal landscape.