Mies van der Rohe and Ludwig Hilberseimer with preliminary model of Illinois Tech campus model. Detlef Mertins, “Mies”, Phaidon Press Ltd., 2014, page 251. Photograph by Robert Wood. courtesy of Marilyn Wood

Together with the College of Architecture and the Chicago Architecture Biennial, the Mies Society will once again toast the holidays and winter solstice—this year with renowned artists Luftwerk and Hedwig Dances on Mies Campus on this long-standing end-of-year tradition. Enjoy a gallery talk by artists Petra Bachmeier and Sean Gallero with the fabulous installation from Luftwerk inspired by the exhibition work of Mies and Lilly Reich in 1927, Cafe Samt & Seide (Velvet Silk Cafe). The luminous fabric in the Luftwerk installation is thanks to the generosity of companies we value for textile design and creations: Knoll Textiles, Edelman, and Maharam.

Time: 4 p.m. Gallery Talks, 5 p.m. Performance

Petra Bachmeier and Sean Gallero, Luftwerk

Jan Bartoszek, Hedwig Dances

Hilb’s Day is a longstanding Illinois Tech tradition to celebrate the shortest day of the year. Ludwig K. Hilberseimer (1885–1967) was a German architect and urban planner best known for his ties to the Bauhaus and Mies van der Rohe. He was founder and chair of Illinois Tech’s Department of City and Regional Planning where he taught from 1938 until his passing in 1967. At Illinois Tech, he developed a universal, adaptable system, planned for the darkest day of the year (“Hilb’s Day”) to produce environments with as much light as possible.

Receive your gift of radiance from Diptyque when you attend.

Landscape, Luftwerk at Secrist Beach Gallery, Chicago

Iconic Bauhaus-inspired work by Jan Bartoszek