Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Friedrichstrasse Skyscraper, project, Berlin-Mitte, Germany, Exterior perspective from north. 1921. Charcoal and graphite on paper mounted on board, 68 1/4 x 48" (173.4 x 121.9 cm). Mies van der Rohe Archive, gift of the architect. © 2005 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn


This design for a crystal tower was unprecedented in 1921. It was based on the untried idea that a supporting steel skeleton would be able to free the exterior walls from their load-bearing function, allowing a building to have a surface that is more translucent than solid. Mies van der Rohe determined the faceted, prismatic shapes of its three connecting towers by experimenting with light reflections on a glass model. While the design anticipates his later preference for steel and glass, here a highly expressionistic character is more evident than any kind of rationalist intention.

A leader of the revolutionary modern movement in architecture, Mies van der Rohe designed a series of five startlingly innovative projects in the early 1920s, each of which had a profound influence on progressive architects all over the world. This competition entry was one of them. Code-named "Honeycomb," the Friedrichstrasse Skyscraper was distinguished by its daring use of glass, which symbolized the dawning of a new culture, and by an expressive shape that seems to owe nothing to history.