Mies van der Rohe: Regular or Super? is a 60-minute Canadian documentary film of the legendary 20th century architect (1886-1969) that's currently on a tour of North American museums, but its distributors tell me that it should be available on DVD in a month or so.
Two-thirds of Regular or Super is a fairly conventional biography of Mies that would fit in nicely with the programming on A&E or the History Channel. But it's book-ended with an annoying postmodern twist. The film begins and ends with lengthy shots of one of Mies van der Rohe's last and sadly, least important buildings--an Esso gas station (hence the title), along with interviews with its customers.
The gas station was built on Nun's Island near Montreal, to fuel and repair the cars of those who lived in the series high-rise condominiums that Mies's firm had designed to open in conjunction with Expo '67, Montreal's World's Fair. Near the end of documentary, we learn that Mies had little to do with this gas station; it was designed by Mies's chief lieutenant, Joseph Fujikawa. Mies merely glanced at his plans and signed off on them.
Fujikawa appears several times in Regular or Super. He was a student of Mies's at the Illinois Institute of Technology in the 1940s, joined Mies's architectural practice in the 1950s, and later became one of the principals in Fujikawa-Johnson, Mies's Chicago-based successor firm, before passing away in early 2004. (Full disclosure: I met and spent a half hour interviewing Fujikawa on a sort of Miesian architectural pilgrimage to Chicago in late 1997; he appeared to be a heck of a nice guy. He was also an excellent architect in his own right, who could design buildings far more impressive--and far larger--than an Esso gas station.)
Fujikawa who one of several employees that Mies hired to staff his architectural practice to fill the overflow of commissions it was receiving in the 1950s and '60s. They received many of their projects thanks to Mies's chief benefactor, who is also mentioned in Regular or Super, Herb Greenwald. In 1946, he was a 29-year-old former rabbinical scholar who had wanted to break into the burgeoning post-war real estate boom, and was looking for a top-flight architect to be associated with his projects. To his surprise, he discovered one of the best, living and teaching in Chicago. Greenwald died in a plane crash in 1959; his successor firm continued an association with Mies's architectural office, and hired it for the Nun's Island project.
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Article comments
1 - Rodney Welch
Ed, you're the best. Great article; interesting and informative all the way through. You know your subject and you've done your homework. I'll look for the documentary.
Have you ever read Daniel Boorstin's The Creators? Pretty good general guide through Western art and culture, I thought; a good crash course in a great deal. It has an interesting section in it on architecture, Louis Sullivan in particular. It may not tell you anything you don't know, but you might enjoy it.
2 - Huh?
"In 1946, [Herb Greenwald] was a 29-year-old former rabbinical scholar who had wanted to break into the burgeoning post-war real estate boom, and was looking for a top-flight architect to be associated with his projects. To his surprise, he discovered one of the best, living and teaching in Chicago." Yes, because Chicago is a backwater, *especially* in terms of its architecture . . . .
3 - marac
Ed. I feel you are a little too tough on the makers of this documentary. I love the opening snowy Esso scene. I wasn't expecting this..It's a surprise..a nice hook. And as you mite know..most great docs open with a something to grab the viewers attention.
By the end of the film, after learning so much about Mies and his work from others, we discover the brilliance behind the design of the gas station. How many gas statons fall under that category? I learn that with imagination even the bland gas station can add something positive to our architectural landscape. We can do so much better when designing any building...and the Esso station in Quebec proves that.
The rest of the documentary features wonderful interviews with the subjects given some nice backdrops. The photography here surely must have been nominated for awards as the buildings are as beautifully shot as I have seen. The filmmaker also makes wonderful use of the cool jazz music throughout this doc.
I mite agree that some footage of Mies could have been used. However, I'm not sure this doc suffered for lack of Mies footage. I mite have added some grainy b and w footage of Meis superimposed over some of his glass towers..for a neat effect..I'm sure the editor would have loved playing with something like that.
That's a minor quibble. If I were to find any critism of this piece is that there really isn't a journey here....However, somehow this filmmaker pulls off a delightful piece. And kudos to the person who came up with the catch title of 'Regular or Super.' Bravo!
4 - John Woolfrey
Here's an update on the current conversion of the former Nuns' Island gas station.