Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886–1969) was one of the founding fathers of modern architecture, and creator of the Barcelona Pavilion (1929), the Farnsworth House in Plano, Illinois (1945–1951) and the Seagram Building in New York (1954–1958).

Founded in Weimar in 1919, the Bauhaus school developed a revolutionary approach that fused fine art with craftsmanship and engineering in everything from architecture to furniture, typography, and even theater.