RIBA: Mies van der Rohe
Mansion House Square Tower
Architectural Model Conservation & Restoration

The Mies van der Rohe Mansion House Square tower architectural model was last displayed at the Chicago Art Institute in USA back in 1986.

Fortunately bespoke packing cases were produced for the transportation of the Mansion House Square tower, existing buildings and associated model components to this exhibition.

The Mies tower had largely remained in its packing case over the next 30 years, although it was not stored in a controlled environment. The packing case provided some protection against the elements; nevertheless the white chalky residue present on the model base was also evident on the bronze tower. Inspection showed that both ends of the Mansion House Square tower had been most affected, with the facades to a lesser degree. This can be seen in the images below.

RIBA: Mansion House Square Tower Architectural Model Restored for Exhibition.

Uniquely the tower facades were not masked and sprayed with paint to create architectural detailing, as was the normal model making method of the time.To achieve a much higher accuracy of detail, glazing bars and quality of finish the facades were silk screened. For that reason the bronze printed finish on the acrylic glazing was ink and not cellulose paint.

This methodology together with the incredible 0.03mm accuracy was a first for architectural model making. To put this accuracy into context: a human hair is approximately 0.05mm. One must remember this occurred at a time of hand craftsmanship and long before computer controlled machinery or laser cutting took centre stage.

The acrylic sheeting used to create the towers facades were tinted in a specially adapted heated water tank containing a candle dye solution. This technique permitted an exact colour match to a sample of the proposed buildings glazing.

Remarkably even today architectural models are produced using a small amount of standard colours provided by acrylic manufactures. As a result most tower models today are made with clear acrylic. All these unique qualities combined make this Mies van der Rohe tower model truly important in the history of architectural models.

Therefore the role of the model conservator is to fully appreciate the timeline of construction techniques in order to properly conserve and restore models.

RIBA: Mies van der Rohe - Mansion House Square Reception Area - White Chalky Residue Evident on all Surfaces before Conservation & Restoration.

The conservation began by testing a small area inside the roof of the Mies tower. Investigation took place to explore if the same approach could be adopted for removing the build-up of white residue and fungal mould as used on the model base.

It is normally inadvisable to brush fungal mould due to potential health risks; therefore an alternative detergent containing a natural bacterial inhibitor was used to clean the test area. The area was dried using cotton swabs and left for 24 hours to evaluate any negative reactions to the cleaning.

After close inspection it was agreed with the RIBA to fully clean the inside of the tower. The roof was once again left for 24 hours and inspected prior to any cleaning of the external facades.

Whilst waiting we turned our attention to repairing the tower which had sustained damage to the reception area and lift shafts. Quickly these were consolidated and repaired.

The roof of the Mies tower was removable allowing access to the internal lighting. Unfortunately the original and very fragile cold cathode lighting had not survived. This form of lighting was popular until the late 1990’s when fibre optic and LED lighting replaced it in large scale office tower models. Therefore Simon suggested to the RIBA that 3000K, 12V LED ribbon lighting should be used to provide the flavour of the original model lighting.  

Mies van der Rohe - Mansion House Square: Models not seen for 30 years to be displayed at new exhibition: 

“Mies van der Rohe and James Stirling: Circling the Square”

Thereafter it was time to try to use the same cleaning procedure on the buildings four facades; each had small amounts of white covering the I-beams and spandrels. Even though this cleaning procedure proved very successful, it predictably left an undesirable smeared glazing. Various anti-static solutions were tested and the optimum one was then applied leaving the glazing smear and static free. 

Mies van der Rohe RIBA Architectural Model Conservation & Restoration Articles

History of the Mies van der Rohe Mansion House Square - Part 1 >>

Mansion House Square Model Restoration & Conservation - Part 2 >>

Mies van der Rohe - Mansion House Square Shopping Concourse - Part 4 >>

Mies van der Rohe - Mansion House Square Existing Buildings - Part 5 >>

Mies van der Rohe - Architectural Model Trees - Part 6 >>

James Stirling No 1 Poultry City of London Model - Part 7 >>