5.

Science Center

Duquesne University, Pittsburgh

Pennsylvania, United States (1962-1965)

Also known as Mellon Hall of Science, this project is located, like the Meredith Memorial Hall, on the top
of a hill at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.77 The building was commissioned to van
der Rohe thanks to the intervention of his friend Paul Schweikher, head of the Department of
Architecture at Carnegie Tech, who had also been commissioned the Student Union project of the same
university in 1962.

Duquesne University was founded by the Holy Spirit Congregation (Catholic Holy Ghost Fathers) in 1879
in a single building, and its expansion was achieved through the acquisition of nearby properties. The
Mellon Hall of Science and the Student Union were part of a master plan that sought to expand and
reconvert the campus, located on a slope from which downtown Pittsburgh can be seen.78

The Student Union is a rectangular building with 7 x 4 bays, with two double ramps at its short ends. It
houses different complementary spaces for students, such as bookshop, cafeteria, kitchen and meeting
and rest rooms. The building has six levels, two of which are balconies that overlook a large interior
space called "ballroom", which dominates most of the third floor. In this main space of the building
there are many activities such as concerts, exhibitions and conferences. The predominant materials used
in the project were concrete poured in situ with grooves, glass and oak panels texture.

Both the Student Union building and the Science Center are based on a 28-foot (8.53-meter) grid. The
Science Center consists of a rectangular plant of 12 x 5 bays that follow the structural module previously
proposed (8.53 meters), and divided in turn into four parts, which generates another module of 2.13
meters, reflected in the vertical uprights that rule the facades Has a east-west orientation and runs
parallel to the north bank of the Monongahela river.

The Science Center has three levels above the ground and one basement. In the access level, the
enclosure retracts a bay with respect to the façade of the upper levels, generating a porticoed area that
runs along its entire perimeter. This level is completely symmetrical and there are two auditoriums with
a capacity of 250 seats facing each other, two machine rooms, located at both ends, and a pair of stairs
between the corridors that surround the auditoriums and the machine rooms.

This building had to house the departments of Chemistry, Biology, Pharmacy and Physics of the
university.79 In the three upper levels are classrooms, laboratories and offices; the differences between
the three levels lie in the distribution of the spaces, but their general organization is maintained. On the
longer sides are the laboratories, the larger classrooms and three central cores, separated by corridors,
which house offices and smaller rooms.

The technical facilities are distributed vertically through ducts, some located in the center of the plant
and others next to the stairs. The supporting structure consists of columns and metal beams covered
with concrete and steel surfaces painted in matt black. The carpentry of the facades is metallic and is in
line with the supporting structure. At the access level the crystals are transparent, without any special
dye, and the only opaque elements are the engine rooms, covered in yellow brick, and the auditoriums.
It is made of glass. In the short facades, east and west, the free height of the facades in which the
corridors coincide are defined by glass surfaces from floor to ceiling.

On the upper floors, the facades whose spaces are intended for laboratories, halls or offices, are divided
into two parts; the lower one, which occupies two thirds of the free height, is covered by metal surfaces,
and the remaining part.
4. Meredith Memorial Hall

Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa

United States (1962-1965)

Meredith Memorial Hall, like the Home Federal Savings and Loan Association, is located in the city of
Des Moines - specifically at Drake University - and was commissioned by Mies to host the program of
the School of Journalism and the Department of Arts. Liberals.75 The building consists of a rectangular
floor volume with two levels above the natural terrain and a basement. It is oriented to the north and is
located on the top of a hill, on the corner of Carpenter Avenue and 28th Street and with a clearing on
the opposite corner.

In the drawings published in the Garland archives, no sketches or structural variations have been found
in the project that was finally built in 1964; we only find alternatives for the way to solve the façade,
which are reminiscent of the buildings designed for the IIT in Chicago, although these alternatives were
not taken into account for the final project.

Among the dependencies that the building had to house were the classrooms of the journalism school,
offices of that faculty, two auditoriums, facilities for the newspaper of the university as well as for radio,
television, photography and graphic arts. The building constitutes a structural grid of 5 x 11 bays with a
module of 22 x 22 feet (6.7 x 6.7 meters). The project is structured around the auditoriums located in
the center of the plant, facing each other and surrounded by corridors that communicate with the
classrooms and with the main access on the south facade of the building.

The auditoriums and classrooms are separated from the faculty's office area by a corridor that divides
the building in two, and which gives access through the building's longest facades. This separation of
space is reinforced by the presence of an interior patio of 44 x 66 feet (13.41 x 22.11 meters) around
which the offices are located. The auditoriums are separated from each other by a nucleus of sanitary
services and stairs that is repeated on the second floor.

In this, however, and unlike the first, there are no large rooms. Where the auditoriums had been, more
classrooms were set up, as well as complementary units: kitchen and storage.

The materials used in these projects remained constant with respect to the previous work of Mies,
despite using a construction system with metal columns covered by concrete. Both columns and beams
are covered by metal surfaces. The facades were laid out by vertical uprights of extruded metal profiles
that extended throughout the height of the building. Gray glass surfaces with metallic carpentry in line
with the supporting structure finished wrapping the interior spaces.

The building was provided with artificial ventilation systems, and the use of venetian blinds was
proposed, and the roof was insulated using fiberglass.76 All the metallic elements were painted in matt
black. The plan solution of the auditorium arrangement was resolved in a similar manner in the Science
Center building at Duquesne University
3. Home Federal Savings and Loan Association

Des Moines, Iowa. United States (1960-1963)

This project is located in a small urban center of the city of Des Moines, where another building
designed by Mies, the Meredith Memorial Hall, is also located. The project is located between High
Street and Grand Avenue, and between Sixth and Seventh Avenue, on a plot of 2, 630 m2. Next to it is
an L-shaped building. The height of the land increases in a south-north direction reaching a height
difference of approximately 90 cm between its ends.71

The building is in the center of the land, slightly displaced to the north side, which generates a space as a
plaza between the line of the property and the facade of the access level of 45 feet (13.71 meters). It
consists of a volume of square plant, compact, three stories high and a basement in a structural grid of 3
x 3 bays. The structural module consists of 40 ft2 (3.71 m2), and in turn is divided into modules of 6 feet
and 8 inches (2.03 m).

The free height of the access floor is 14 feet with 7 inches (4.44 m), the mezzanine has a thickness of 3
feet and 7 inches (1.1 m) and the free height of the upper floors is 9 feet and 8 1 / 2 inches (2.9 m) .72
The structural system consists of steel beams and columns lined with concrete, due to fire regulations;
In turn, these elements of the structure are covered by metal surfaces. Extruded metal profiles regulate
the four facades and correspond to the module used throughout the building. The vertical
communication core is covered by travertine surfaces and the ground floor has been defined by glass
panels with metal profiles.

In this assignment Mies also took up aspects tested in tower projects, and with some variations,
presented the typical characteristics of these: curtain wall that surrounds the upper floors, facades on
the ground floor set back from the upper levels and defined by glass cloths with metal profiling and
location of the vertical communication core in the center of the plant.

In the interior, the same materials used in previous projects were also used. The presented level
difference is solved through an inclined plane between the street and the parterre on the east side.

A displacement in plan of the location of the vertical circulation core allows unfolding the program to
generate a system of occupation destined to independent office spaces between the level of access and
the higher levels. This core moves in such a way that it is tangential to the office space of the ground
floor, which interrupts the enclosure of this level and generates a vestibule that serves as general access
to all office spaces, both at the ground floor level, as to the upper levels and the basement; at the same
time frames the access to the building. In this way, the project is more profitable, since by locating the
offices for Home Federal Savings at the access level and on the first floor, space is obtained that can be
used for rentals at the remaining levels.

Likewise, the location of the building on the north side of the land favors proximity to High Street, which
translates into access to the drive-in and a service street. In this way, in the access plant we have two
closed volumes - the vertical communication core and the offices destined to serve in the drive-in. Both
spaces are located at the southern and northern extremes respectively and are the only opaque
elements.

In the upper floors, the vertical communication core is far from the perimeter of the façade and is the
only opaque element in the plant next to the sanitary services. The machinery necessary for the
operation of the building is located on a lower level located above the second floor and in the basement,
where an auditorium and additional spaces are also located.

A preliminary proposal shows a completely different project. Although few drawings have been found in
the Garland archives, the solution was considered to the point of making a model of the project.
According to David Spaeth, this solution was rejected as the client added office space for rent, which
forced a change in the configuration of the project, opting for a more compact and less interesting
proposal at a spatial and structural level.73 The variants found in he offers clues about the bearing
structure systems for which Mies was more inclined, with respect to those that ended up being carried
out, and in which he conjugated multiple resources used in other occasions.

The project consists of two lattice beams of 56 meters in length, 23 meters apart, which run parallel in a
north-south direction and from which a raised volume of the soil hangs, which generates a free plant at
the access level defined by two blind walls parallel to the beams and glazed surfaces at the end of these.
The building would have occupied most of the block and a street would have separated it from the
parking lot and the existing building.

Unlike other projects in which, when there is a difference in the terrain, generates a base on which the
building is placed, Mies solved this situation by placing the blind walls running in the same direction of
the slope at the access level absorbing the level difference. Glass facades at the end and perpendicular
to these walls finish defining the interior space. This slope was resolved inside the building with two
flights of stairs located one third of its length.

A second level, recessed at its center, is placed 3.5 m above the access level in the manner of an interior
balcony. Two volumes, in which the elevator and duct boxes are located, flank the stairway located in
the first level and dominate the entire height of the interior of the volume. Two pairs of stairs are
located at the southern and northern ends of the building.

In this way, a series of transitions is generated that provide access to the building. In the first place we
find a glass facade flanked by blind walls; two stairs that communicate with the second level are on the
right and on the left at both ends, and in the center there is a staircase divided into two flights of stairs
flanked by vertical volumes. These indicate the vacuum generated inside the building, through which
light enters on all sides; the vacuum opens 10 meters above and shows the glass facade of the second
level.
Between 1962 and 1965 three projects were developed simultaneously in the Mies office. All three were
published at the same time in retrospectives about his most recent work done at the time, 74 and even
in the Garland archives they share the same section in his description. The projects in question were
commissioned by three different academic institutions and all are located in the United States.

It draws attention, when reviewing said files, the amount of drawings found in the three projects,
practically reducing to planimetries that correspond to each executive project. There are very few
sketches and none of them contemplate other structural solutions.

From this we could infer that Mies's office was at a very mature stage in terms of the development of
the projects underway, as well as the large volume of work it faced. Simultaneously they developed
projects such as the Mansion House Square in London and the New National Gallery in Berlin. It should
be emphasized that although they were probably projects of less relevance to the architect, in all of
them the characteristic care of his work is noticeable: attention to the whole, to the implantation of the
building in the site, to its proportions and to its details.