The Farnsworth house in Euripides

Abstract

This text aims to shed some light on Mies Van der Rohe’s architecture, through the study of the ideal inhabitant who could have lived in the Farnsworth House. With this purpose we’ve studied the Greek drama and, specifically, in the figure of Hippolytus of Eurípides where you can find the attributes of purity and transparency necessary for the appropriate dwelling of this house. Finally we compare the effective life that Dr. Farnsworth had in this house with the character of Phaedra, antagonist of the tragedy, to conclude that the failure of this dwelling is linked to the impossibility to assume, by the doctor, the “universal order” to which the house obliged him.