7
9
10
On a coastal site on the Dutch North Sea coast, a full-scale mockup of the façades of a house, constructed of painted sailcloth over wood framing, was erected in winter 1912/13 between the dunes and woods. The only known photograph of the installation was published 15 years later in an article, accompanied by the note: “Mies was quite right when he remarked on this project that if one were to remove the detailing of the façade, one would have a building very much like those he makes today. That is, a building in which living is not dictated by the arrangement of the house, but the arrangement of the house follows the process of living.”1 The original floor plan no longer exists, but Mies later sketched a sequence of some of the spaces from memory. 2 He placed the entrance at the corner of the H-shaped plan of the building. Visitors pass through a vestibule into a representative hall from which a path leads to the dining room and a long passage to a second wing with a large exhibition gallery. In this second wing on the far side, a hall also serves as a vestibule distributing the visitors in all directions. The lady of the house, Helene Kröller-Müller, had specific ideas of her own for a monumental country house. To exhibit their collection of paintings, a windowless hall was required that she wanted placed near to her own room.3 The organisation of the programme of spaces was complex as the different functional areas needed to be independent of one another but still be incorporated into an overall composition. The different areas included a succession of reception rooms for entertaining, the private residence of the couple, a service wing for the servants as well as semi-public areas for the art collection. This programme of spaces, representing the different living processes, was recorded by Peter Behrens, who was originally commissioned to undertake the project. His design was also tested on site as a fullscale model but was ultimately turned down. Mies worked at the time as Behrens’ assistant and was able to establish a good work ing relationship with the clients. Mies was then asked to develop a design of his own for the house, which in turn marked the end of his collaboration with Behrens. In Behrens’ earlier project, visitors were also led via a vestibule into a hall from which a corridor continued onto the far wing with the windowless gallery space. The living room, “in which the family usually dined, as is typical in Holland,”4 is axially aligned with a pool of water in front of it while the dining room was used only for special events or entertaining guests. The wing with the succession of reception rooms is divided into two linear zones, one for the service functions and one for the served rooms. The kitchen was situated on the upper storey. Fritz Hoeber wrote of the lady’s rooms: “The square of the gentleman’s room at one end corresponds to a large vestibule at the other end from which the lady’s personal living quarters can be reached. Her living room, replete with a special wardrobe, can only be reached through this room; there is no door directly from the hallway. And to continue this analogy with a monastic cell, the lady’s living room has its own private garden, its ‘giardino secreto’ in an intimate courtyard whose short sides are flanked by freestanding columns, affording an expansive view from the windows of her room while still providing a sense of enclosure.”5 Mies carried over this arrangement of the garden into his own project, flanking it with a greenhouse, and likewise attributing it to the lady’s quarters.6 He heightened its sense of intimacy by making only one room open onto the garden. We know from rec ords that Helene Kröller-Müller had found Behrens’ architecture to be lacking in intimacy.7 One can only speculate as to why Mies’ design was eventually rejected. While Mies was developing his design, Hendrik Petrus Berlage was also commissioned to draw up a second design. The Kröller-Müllers consulted their artistic advisor, who is reported to have said of Berlage’s project, “that is art,” and of Mies’,
25