Lego farnsworth house - 21009 Instruction Manual

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One of Mies’ most famous aphorisms was “less is more”. For many, the 
architecture of Farnsworth House represents the ultimate refinement 
of his minimalist beliefs.
It was designed and constructed between 1945 and 1951 as a one-
room weekend retreat, located in a once-rural setting, 55 miles (89 km) 
southwest of Chicago on a 60-acre (240,000 m
2
) estate adjoining the 
Fox River, in the city of Plano, Illinois. The steel and glass house was 
commissioned by Dr. Edith Farnsworth, a prominent Chicago 
medical specialist, as a place where she could engage in her hobbies: 
playing the violin, translating poetry, and enjoying nature. Farnsworth was  
highly intelligent, articulate, and intent on building a very special work 
of modern architecture. Her instructions for Mies were to design the 
house as if it were for himself.
Mies created a 1,585-square-foot (140 m
2
) house that is now widely 
recognized as an iconic masterpiece of the International Style of architecture. 
The home was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2006 after 
being added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2004. It is  
currently owned and run as a house museum by the National Trust for 
Historic Preservation. 
Like many Modernists, Mies worshiped the technology-driven modern 
era he lived in, but also believed that reconnecting the individual with 
nature was one of the greatest challenges faced by an urbanized 
society..
With this in mind, Mies conceived Farnsworth House
 as an indoor-
outdoor architectural shelter simultaneously independent of and 
intertwined with the nature around it. The simple elongated cubic form 
of the house runs parallel to the flow of the river and is anchored to 
the site in the cooling shadow of a large and majestic black maple 
tree. To underline the strong connection with nature, the house was 
deliberately built on the flood plain near the river’s edge instead of 
on the flood-free upland portions of the site.
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