It is 50 years since his death, 90 since the construction of the German Pavilion for the Universal Exhibition in Barcelona and 100 since the creation of the mythical Bauhaus school, which he directed in its last stage. With the publication of MIES, in April 2019, the Grafito editorial is added to this triple commemoration.
Description of project by Grafito Editorial
MIES is a fictional biography in which the author, Agustín Ferrer Casas, takes us on a complete journey through the life and work of the german architect, well known for being one of the top representatives of the Modern Movement of architecture.
Inspired by the reading of "Mies van der Rohe: Menos es más", article published in 2014 in the pages of El Pais Semanal by Anatxu Zabalbeascoa, this work is born after a long process of inspiration and documentation. All this is aimed at portraying his biography as faithfully as possible, leaving space for a certain dramatisation typical of any narrative fiction.
"Mies by Ferrer Casas is the stubborn architect, the one who enjoys life and knows where he wants to go. He is a passionate person who goes blind, who loses and wins along the way. He is a character with the intensity shot, as befits a comic hero".
Anatxu Zabalbeascoa, journalist and art historian.
Agustín's watercolours are at the service not only of history, but also of the aesthetics of Mies' prolific work. Each brushstroke recreates buildings, monuments, designs and environments that take us back to the mid-twentieth century. A historically turbulent period in which the rise of Nazism in Germany will inevitably play an important role in the development of Mies' career. The son of a modest stonemason willing to do anything in order to achieve his greatest ambition: to build.
The result is an exquisite graphic novel in whose vignettes we will travel an entire path dedicated to architecture. An admirable life in the professional sphere, but not so much in the private sphere.
Prologued by Norman Foster, it is hoped that this album will please both architecture professionals and all those who wish to approach the history of modern architecture through this graphic novel.
"Mies van der Rohe is one of the few 20th century architects who has contributed to shaping the architecture of the present and, possibly, the architecture of the future".
Norman Foster, fragment from the prologue of MIES.
