ABSTRACT
Mies van der Rohe's House Lange in Krefeld (1928–1930) is paired with the almost identical House Esters on adjoining lots. It is two stories high and assembled from a variety of differently sized cubical boxes and cantilevered horizontal planes. All have surfaces of red brick punctured by differently dimensioned glass openings. The composition consists of a larger cubical shape on the left (Figure 10.1), from which a shallower wing extends on the right side. On the front and back of the ground floor, two patios are added to the building volumes, while on the upper floor there are three balconies. On the garden façade, the patio cover serves as floor for the upper balcony (Figure 10.2). The individual volumes have both vertical and horizontal protrusions, making for quite varied exterior surfaces, in spite of the use of the same building material throughout. Some of these extensions suggest to the approaching viewer that the interior spaces shift or shear against each other.
