In Chicago’s portfolio of notable architects, the name Ludwig Mies van der Rohe is recognized for reshaping American architecture following World War II, earning him international admiration and a street named in his honor in front of Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art. “With his highly developed sense of classical proportion, appreciation of modern structure and materials, and keen sense of craftsmanship, he created buildings that provided a new style for the 20th century,” according to his biography on the Chicago Landmarks Web site.

From 1938 to 1958, van der Rohe was Director of Architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) where he designed several buildings that represent the largest collection of his designs in the world. One of his last buildings erected on the campus, S.R. Crown Hall, appeared on a U.S. postage stamp in 1982 and was awarded National Landmark status by the National Park Service in 2001. The structure features a steel frame which is column-free and a roof that is suspended from the underside of four steel plate girders that are supported by eight exterior columns spaced at 60-foot intervals.

Another Chicago landmark is van der Rohe’s twin steel and glass residential towers at 860-880 Lake Shore Drive. Still considered among Chicago’s most admired buildings, the Lake Shore Drive towers were a dramatic departure from the more conventional residential brick apartment buildings of that time. According to Paul Gapp, former architectural editor for the Chicago Tribune, “Chicagoans called Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s twin 26-story apartment towers the ‘glass houses’ when they were built between 1948 and 1951. His lake front tour de force influenced architects everywhere and in this respect eventually helped change the look of virtually every American city.”

In 1976, the Lake Shore Drive towers received the American Institute of Architects 25 Year Award presented to significant projects that have “withstood the test of time.” The Commission on Chicago Landmarks praised the towers for having “set the standard by which all subsequent glass-and-steel high-rises are judged…No other design by this world-famous architect has so immediate or so strong an impact.”

A third van der Rohe creation that has gained international notoriety is the one-story Farnsworth House constructed in Plano, Illinois in 1951, which represents the architect’s expression of minimalist structure and space (photo courtesy of LPCI). “The Farnsworth house with its continuous glass walls is an even simpler interpretation of an idea,” wrote American architect Philip Johnson. “Here the purity of the cage is undisturbed. Neither the steel columns from which it is suspended nor the independent floating terrace break the taut skin.”

Over the years, these architectural treasures have been meticulously maintained and restored with careful attention to preserving the original appearance of each structure. In 2005, for example, the steel substrate of S.R. Crown Hall was completely renovated using a three-coat system that matched the flat charcoal black color that was a van der Rohe trademark. After the steel surface was commercial blast cleaned, it was coated with Tnemec’s Series 90-97 Tneme-Zinc, a zinc-rich urethane primer; Series 66 Hi-Build Epoxoline, a polyamide epoxy; and Series 175 Endura-Shield, an aliphatic acrylic polyurethane. “For this project, all of the windows were in need of replacement, so they were removed making preparation of the steel substrate and coating application go much smoother and quicker,” recalled Tnemec coating consultant Chris Wascher.

The same charcoal black color was used for the 1988 renovation of Lake Shore Drive towers, where a two-coat system was used on the entire exterior steel curtain wall of each building, including columns and window frames. “Krueck and Sexton Architects of Chicago were commissioned to renovate the historical towers,” Wascher noted. “Teaming up with them were the preservation architects Barboe Architects, along with forensic and structural analysis firm, Wiss Janney Elster.” The renovation included the use of hand and power tools to prepare the steel surface, which was spot-primed with Series 530 Omnithane, a moisture-cured, aromatic urethane, followed by two coats of Series 6 Tneme-Cryl, a matte-finish, acrylic emulsion with excellent color retention. “Nearly 20 years later, it still looks good,” Wascher acknowledged.

The Farnsworth House was recoated in 1988 with 50 gallons of Series 90-97 as the primer, 60 gallons of Series 66 as the intermediate coat, and 40 gallons of Series 73 Endura-Shield, an aliphatic acrylic polyurethane finish coat in white. Antunovich Associates of Chicago was the restoration architect for the project and National Decorating Service in Oakbrook, Illinois, was the coating contractor. “The house sits close to a river, so it was constructed more than five feet above the ground,” Wascher explained. “Over the years, flooding had caused some of the steel to become corroded and warped, so those areas had to be prepared by grinding them down, followed by spot priming. The rest of the steel was prepared in accordance with SSPC-SP2 Hand Tool Cleaning and SSPC-SP3 Power Tool Cleaning.”

The Farnsworth House required an overcoat that would be compatible with the existing coating system and offer maximum life expectancy. “The coating system has been touched up periodically over the years, but 21 years later the Tnemec overcoat system was still intact and still looked beautiful,” Wascher added. 

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