A Study on Characteristics of the Court in Mies van der Rohe's Hubbe House

Abstract

Hubbe House, designed by Mies van der Rohe in 1935, although not actually built, is significant in that it marks the first application of his theoretical idea of a court to an actual site. In the Hubbe House, Mies's concept of a court, which he presented theoretically for educational purposes, was applied to build a practical and complex structure with consideration of site conditions and architectural ideas he had long sought to use. This paper interprets his idea concerning court in the following ways. First, as for its relationship with the interior space, the court has significance and effect as a method to make the relationship between the interior and exterior spaces more active. Second, the court prevents the view from extending beyond the site by means of intentionally devised obstructions. As a result, "quiet seclusion" is created in the court by blocking out the often hectic confusions of the outside world. Third, the court is designed to have both open natural scenery and closed artificial scenery, which are in contrast to each other, creating a harmonized composition of the building as a whole.