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Thanks for the view, Mr. Mies


Thanks for the view, Mr. Mies (Detroit, 2009) is a series of portraits of residents in their living rooms in the Lafayette Park neighborhood of downtown Detroit, home to the largest collection of Mies van der Rohe-designed buildings in the world. While much has been written about Mies’s life and work, the purpose of this series is to focus attention on the community of people who live in his buildings and the way this utopian mid-20th century urban renewal project has successfully survived and adapted to present-day conditions in Detroit. Rather than focusing on the starck interior spaces and austere exteriors that one might expect to see in photographs of iconic modernist architecture, these portraits seek to show the organic and idiosyncratic ways that people live in Lafayette Park.

The photographs were made in collaboration with the group Placement, and published in their book 'Thanks for the View, Mr. Mies' (Metropolis Books, 2012).

For more images + audio, see the interactive feature: 'Living Rooms With a View'


228 pages
Softcover | 6.5 x 9.5 in
Designed by Danielle Aubert, Lana Cavar, Natasha Chandani
Published by Metropolis Books, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-935202-92-9

︎ $29.95 ︎ Shop here



        
Danielle and Jonathan, 2009 Sylvia, 2009 Bill, 2009 Keira, 2009 Wesley, 2009 Karen and Jerome, 2009 Pauline and Joe, 2009 Marsha, 2009 Rob, 2009 Beverly and Richard, 2009 Melissa and Noah, 2009 Tony, 2009 Lafayette Park Towers, 2009 Toysia, 2009 Will and Jasmine, 2009 Kevin and Vanessa, 2009 Jaqueline, 2009 Gabrielle, 2009 Jimm, 2009 Daniel, 2009 Tara, 2009 Ms Cunningham, 2009 Matt, 2009