“Less is more.” You may have heard this quote before, but, you probably don’t know that the phrase is one of the most famous aphorisms by world-renowned architect Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe. Mies was one of the most influential architects during the high-modernism period that occured post-WWII. His most famous buildings include; the Barcelona Pavilion, the Seagram Building, and Farnsworth House. After a glance at those buildings, even those less architecturally astute can see that for Mies “less is more” was strictly an aesethetic position: less distraction, more simplicity, less ornament, more purity. Clearly, the “less” did not apply to finances, energy, or resources; things we are concerned with today. (Humorously, a few years later, Robert Venturi declared, “less is a bore” and ushered in the, thankfully brief, postmodernism period in architecture.)
“More with Less.” This phrase is less known except among those that are familiar with my faith tradition. “More with Less” is best known as the title of a cookbook, birthed during the global food crisis of the 1970s, that emphasized less waste, more thrift, less materialism and more compassion. Editor Doris Janzen Langacre explains that it’s not about sacrifice; “The gain is so great that the phrase ‘cutting back’ doesn’t fit at all.” A deeply inspirational example of faith in action, the book has sold more than 800,000 copies world-wide.
Despite the similarity of the phrases, Mies and Janzen Longacre aren’t advocating the same philosophy. One seeks to strip away the superfluous, reducing visual clutter, emphasizing the basics. The conclusion is, “Look how little there is, but isn’t it beautiful!” The other values every part of the whole, finding pleasure in the journey, content with what’s at hand. The conclusion is, “Look how much we’ve done and all we have, and you’d be surprised how little it took to do it!”
There really isn’t much in common between Mies and Janzen Longacre. But, both found a way start with less of what we thought was important and finish with more of what we truely need. Both raise the level of engagement with our surroundings (or world), turning our priorities a different way. We need this spirit again.
