An architect as a superhero? A short review of the comic MIES

The comic book is a rather particular literary form, telling stories through pictures. Some claim comics are just colourful tales about superheroes that deal with nothing serious. Nothing could be further from the truth.

I have never been a die-hard fan of the form. Yet more and more often I find in it a blend of art with a pleasantly served dose of knowledge and relaxation - which is exactly what I look for in books. When I read, I want more than entertainment for the soul: I want something to stay in my head, something that inspires me to explore a subject further.

That is exactly what happened with MIES - The Complicated Life of a Minimalist Architect. Given my studies and my hobby - architecture - the figure of the star architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe was of course familiar to me. I cannot count how many times we analysed his projects at university and discussed his undeniable mastery. I also have a small architectural dream: to see most of his buildings in person.

A conversation on a flight to Berlin

In this comic by the Spanish author Agustin Ferrer Casas I found a rather different face of Mies van der Rohe than the one I knew. We learn the architect's story through a conversation with his grandson Dirk Lohan - an architect too - during a flight to Berlin for the laying of the foundation stone of his own design: the Neue Nationalgalerie.

It is during this journey that the architect's most important memories come back to him - projects, family, love, friendship, enemies and lovers. With wit, and often through very funny dialogue, Casas shows us a man struggling with a difficult profession in Nazi Germany. Yet he is fiercely determined, and the force of his temperament - which repeatedly harms those around him - pushes him beyond the ordinary.

Mies van der Rohe is portrayed as a dominant figure - unafraid of risk, living life to the full, having extraordinary adventures, but also getting into conflicts. Just like a superhero.

Bauhaus, Lilly Reich and the Farnsworth House case

The comic sketches out fascinating threads from the architect's life: his directorship of the Bauhaus, his collaborations with other famous figures such as Philip Johnson and the interior architect Lilly Reich. Nor can one leave out the famous case of Mrs Farnsworth's house, which caused controversy in the architectural world of the time. If you are curious how Casas tells that story, MIES is worth picking up.

This comic is not only a biography of an architect but also a portrait of the fast-moving era of modern architecture. It is a story about a perfectionist who - famous for the aphorism Less is more - asks himself at the end of his life whether giving so much of himself was worth it.

I picked this up not only because of the famous architect, but also for the excellent drawings and the beautiful edition published by the Centrum Architektury Foundation. I think a biography of Mies van der Rohe would make a fascinating film. And the comic itself is a great gift idea - not just for an architect or a comics lover.