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Peter Blake remembers the opening of Mies's final and finest building, the New National Gallery.
Memoir
I first met Mies in 1947, after I had been discharged from the U.S. Army. We remained close friends for a good many years, meeting frequently in Chicago, New York, Berlin, and places in between until he died in 1969.
After he cameto America, Mies's buildings tended to be steel-framed rather than concrete or masonry. Starting with the beautiful Farnsworth House (1946-50), Mies would design his buildings precisely and unmistakably: structurally delineated in steel, with glass or brick infill panels of similar precision and texture. In the 1950s, he began to design and build structures that, to this day, have not been excelled in perfection. To people living in New York, the Seagram Building (1958) is still, quite simply, the finest skyscraper done by anyone to date. Shortly after Seagram, he designed the New National Gallery in West Berlin (1962), which may well be the greatest Mies structure constructed anywhere. I saw the New National Gallery frequently while it was under construction, and I attended the opening ceremonies on September 15, 1968. (Mies was not well enough to attend but asked me to come to Chicago upon my return to tell him exactly how well the building was constructed.)
Although I have now visited the New National Gallery close to a dozen times, I am still overwhelmed by its beauty....