The Problem of the Copy Without an Original: Appropriationism in Mies van der Rohe’s Farnsworth House
Submitted: 2024-05-13
|Accepted: 2024-11-11
|Published: 2025-04-30
Copyright (c) 2025 VLC arquitectura. Research Journal

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Downloads
Keywords:
Copy, appropriation, Mies van der Rohe, forgery, second-hand architecture
Supporting agencies:
Abstract:
This article examines the issues surrounding copying in contemporary culture by looking at the work of architect Mies van der Rohe. By studying the successive copies of the Farnsworth House, it explores how this practise can be more than simply an act of postmodern homage or mere misappropriation. The case of the German architect’s work demonstrates that new phenomena, such as copying without an original, can emerge, prompting discussions about authorship and contemporary originality. Mies’s attitude towards the reproduction of his work – where he views it as an unparalleled tool for spreading his message – as well as his own practice of self-copying, have taken on an almost prophetic quality over time. This provides a unique perspective for examining the relevance of appropriation across various fields, beyond architecture and art. The article concludes with a reflection on the impact of copying on the interpretation and evolution of modern architecture in relation to the concept of authenticity, and how copying may give rise to new originals.
References:
Beam, Alan. Broken Glass. Mies van der Rohe, Edith Farnsworth, and the Fight Over a Modernist Masterpiece. New York: Random House, 2020.
Benjamin, Walter. La obra de arte en la época de su reproductibilidad técnica. Valencia: Editorial Pretextos, 2021.
Benjamin, Walter. “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction,” in Illuminations, edited by Hannah Arendt. New York: Schocken Books, 1969. https://web.mit.edu/allanmc/www/benjamin.pdf
Bjone, Christian. Philip Johnson and His Mischief: Appropriation in Art and Architecture. Mulgrave, Victoria, Australia: Images Publishing, 2014.
Bosker, Bianca. Original Copies: Architectural Mimicry in Contemporary China. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2013. https://doi.org/10.4000/chinaperspectives.6337
Botero Bernal, Andrés, Juan Orlando Aguirre Román, and Juan David Almeyda Sarmiento. “¿Lejano Oriente como arma para la revolución? Reflexiones sobre el papel de la filosofía oriental en la obra de Byung-Chul Han = Far East as a Weapon for Revolution? Reflections on the Role of Eastern Philosophy in the Work of Byung-Chul Han.” Estudios de Filosofía, no. 67 (2022): 5-24. https://doi.org/10.17533/udea.ef.349258
“La casa transparente: Vivir entre muros de cristal.” Santo Domingo de las Posadas (blog), 12 de mayo de 2009. https://santodomingodelasposadas.blogspot.com/2009/05/la-casa-transparente.html
Cohen, Jean Luis. The Future of Architecture since 1889. London: Phaidon Press Ltd., 2012.
Colomina, Beatriz. Manifesto Architecture: The Ghost of Mies. Berlin: Sternberg Press, 2014.
Compagnon, Antoine. La segunda mano, o el trabajo de la cita. Barcelona: Acantilado, 2020.
Eisenman, Peter. “Behind the Mirror: On the Writings of Philip Johnson.” Oppositions, no. 10 (Fall 1977): 1-13.
Fernández Mallo, Agustín. Proyecto Nocilla. Barcelona: Alfaguara, 2013.
Fernández Mallo, Agustín. Teoría general de la basura. Barcelona: Galaxia Gutenberg, 2018.
Frampton, Kenneth. “The Glass House Revisited.” Catalogue, no. 9 (Sep.-Oct. 1978): 39-59.
Han, Byung-Chul. Shanzhai: el arte de la falsificación y la deconstrucción en China. Buenos Aires: Caja Negra Editores, 2016.
Han, Byung-Chul. Shanzhai: deconstruction in Chinese. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2017. https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/11270.001.0001
Hernández Martínez, Ascensión. La clonación arquitectónica. Madrid: Siruela, 2007.
Hilburg, Jonathan. “The Farnsworth House is Renamed to Honor Edith Farnsworth”. The Architect´ s Newspaper (blog), October 19, 2021. https://www.archpaper.com/2021/10/farnsworth-house-renamed-to-honor-edith-farnsworth/?fbclid=IwAR3Wy6jPLmSIyLaubcxto4QMP3MyVTi_hfRC0F-7HqAQEmnlf7nxnPcnlzQ
Johnson, Philip. “House at New Canaan, Connecticut.” Architectural Review 108, no. 645 (September 1950): 152-59.
Klein, Kristine. “Farnsworth House Installation Replicates Edith Farnsworth’s Original Décor”. Dezeen (blog), July 22, 2020. https://www.dezeen.com/2020/07/22/farnsworth-house-installation-replicates-decor-edith-farnsworth
Koolhaas, Rem, and Bruce Mau. S, M, L, XL. New York: The Monacelli Press, 1995.
Krauss, Rosalind E. La originalidad de la vanguardia y otros mitos modernos. Madrid: Alianza Editorial, 1996.
Krauss, Rosalind E. The Originality of the Avant-Garde and Other Modernist Myths. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1985.
Lavin, Sylvia. “What’s in a Name: That Which We Call a Glass House.” In Modern Views, edited by Phyllis Lambert. New York: Assouline Publishers, 2010.
Molina, Santiago de. “El abismo de la cita: de Mies a Scharoun.” Arquitextos 11, no. 121.01 (Jun. 2010). https://vitruvius.com. br/revistas/read/arquitextos/11.121/3429
El Mundo. “Las falsificaciones mueven ya tanto dinero como el PIB de Austria,” April 18, 2016. https://www.elmundo.es/economia/2016/04/18/57150cd7268e3edc2e8b4589.html
Neumeyer, Fritz. The Artless Word: Mies van der Rohe on the Building Art. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1991.
Neumeyer, Fritz. Mies van der Rohe: la palabra sin artificio reflexiones sobre arquitectura 1922–1968. Madrid: El Croquis editorial, 1995.
Riley, Terence. “From Bauhaus to Courthouse.” In Mies in Berlin, edited by Barry Bergdoll and Riley Terence, 330-37. New York: MoMA, 2001.
Rohe, Ludwig Mies van der. “Wohin gehen wir nun?” Bauen und Wohnen 14, no. 11 (November 1960): 391. https://www.e-periodica.ch/cntmng?pid=buw-001%3A1960%3A14%3A%3A2307
Santatecla Fayos, José, Zaida García-Requejo and Laura Lizondo Sevilla. “David Haid and the Mannheim Theater of Mies van der Rohe.” VLC arquitectura 9, no. 2 (October 2022): 99-121. https://doi.org/10.4995/vlc.2022.15747
Schulze, Franz. Philip Johnson: Life and Work. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994.
Schulze, Franz and Edward Windshorst. Mies van der Rohe: una biografía crítica. Barcelona: Editorial Reverté, 2016.
Schwartz, Hillel. La cultura de la copia: parecidos sorprendentes, facsímiles insólitos. Madrid: Editorial Cátedra, 2003.
Solá-Morales, Ignasi de, Carles Cirici, and Félix Ramos. Mies van der Rohe: El Pabellón de Barcelona. Barcelona: Editorial Gustavo Gili, 1993.
Sourieau, Étienne. Diccionario Akal de estética. Madrid: Akal, 2008.
Stern, Robert A.M. “The Evolution of Philip Johnson’s Glass House, 1947-1948.” Oppositions, no. 10 (Fall 1977): 56-67.
Stern, Robert A.M. Philip Johnson: Writings. New York: Oxford University Press, 1979.
Tárrago Mingo, Jorge. “Más Mies que el propio Mies. Philip Johnson y algunos límites de la originalidad.” Arquitetura Revista 11, no. 2 (Jul.-Dic. 2015): 56-63. https://doi.org/10.4013/arq.2015.112.01