Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron
Treacherous Transparencies. Thoughts and observations triggered by a visit to the Farnsworth House
Chicago: IITAC Press, 2016
In Treacherous Transparencies Jacques Herzog (through text) and Pierre de Meuron (through photographs) record a few critical thoughts about the Farnsworth House by Mies van der Rohe. Herzog discusses the complete exposure of the interior, the spectral non-space under the building, and the decorative romantic landscape that surrounds the property in relation to a few works by Bruno Taut, Ivan Leonidov, Marcel Duchamp, Dan Graham, and Gerhard Richter. The framed views by de Meuron show quite faithfully that the "users of the Farnsworth House are surrounded by uncertainty".
The architects visited the house on the occasion of the Mies Crown Hall Americas Price in Fall 2014 and again in Spring 2016. Check also the 2015 RIBA Jencks Award lecture.
Looking In, Farnsworth House, 2013. Photographs: Mariana Siracusa
