K. F. Schinkel's Environmental Planning of Central Berlin

Abstract

i. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe's indebtedness to is most eminently reflected in several well-known projects, e.g., Hugo Perls House, Berlin-Zehlendorf, I9I ; Seagram Building, York, 1958; Museum of Twentieth Century Art, Berlin, 1965. About the last, Mies has been quoted as saying, placement of the new museum on a terrace . . . permitted a design of a clear and strong building in the tradition of Schinkel's Berlin. New Work of Mies van der Architectural Forum, Sept. I963, 87. Philip Johnson summarized his recognition of Schinkel's ability as follows: ... his greatness, however, lay in his unique sense of proportion, which transformed whichever style he used. Mies van der Rohe, 2nd ed., York, 1953, p. I4. In a more personal statement, Johnson refers to himself: .. . dass ich mich als den vielleicht letzten lebenden Schiiler Schinkels fiihle. Karl Friedrich im zwanzigstenJahrhundert, Festvortrag, Schriftenreihe des Architektenund Ingenieur-Vereins zu Berlin, 13 Marz 1961, p. 24. The entire article, translated into English and published as Schinkel and Mies, Program, Columbia University, School of Architecture, Spring 1962, pp. 14-34, ranks among the best interpretive writings on and is by far the finest tribute paid by a modem architect to a past master.