Photo from www.farnsworthhouse.org
One of architecture?s most enduring icons is set to be immortalized on the silver screen. Farnsworth House, designed by master architect Mies Van Der Rohe, will be the subject of a new Hollywood movie about the house?s commission, design, and construction, with the narrative centering around the complex relationship between Van Der Rohe and his client, Dr. Edith Farnsworth. Jeff Bridges has been confirmed to play the architect, while Maggie Gyllenhaal is reported to be playing Farnsworth. This will be the second time the pair share a screen, the previous instance being in 2009?s Oscar-winning ?Crazy Heart?.
Completed in 1951, Farnsworth House is considered a seminal work in the International Style, which characterized modernist architecture throughout the 1920?s and 30?s. The style?s main attributes were rectilinear forms, structural lightness achieved by using glass and steel, cantilevered planes, and fluid, minimal interiors. The house employs all of these elements and is thought to be the most complete synthesis of the architect?s vision, both conceptually and typologically. Photo © Carol Highsmith from www.farnsworthhouse.org
Commissioned in 1945 by distinguished Chicago doctor Edith Farnsworth, the house was to act as a country retreat where she could relax and pursue her many hobbies. Located outside Chicago in Plano, Illinois, it is situated on 10 acres of sheltered woodland and embodies Van Der Rohe?s concept of a harmonious relat...