Technology is rooted in the past. It dominates the present and

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, master architect of modernism, once declared with timeless clarity: “Technology is rooted in the past. It dominates the present and tends into the future. It is a real historical movement — one of the great movements which shape and represent their epoch.” In this saying, he does not speak of mere machines or tools, but of the very current of history itself, a river flowing from ancient springs into the endless sea of tomorrow. For technology is not a passing invention, but a force woven into the fabric of civilization, carrying the imprint of what has been, commanding what is, and shaping what is yet to come.

He reminds us that technology is rooted in the past. Every device, every invention, every leap forward, stands upon the bones of what came before. The wheel led to the cart, the cart to the carriage, the carriage to the automobile, and the automobile to the rocket that pierces the heavens. Nothing arises from nothing. Just as mighty trees grow from the smallest seeds buried in the soil of yesterday, so too does every modern triumph spring from the labors of those who toiled before us. The lineage of technology is the lineage of humankind itself.

Yet in the same breath, Mies van der Rohe proclaims that technology dominates the present. It is the pulse of our age, the unseen monarch that orders how we live, move, and think. The ancients were shaped by fire and stone, the medievals by church and sword, but we — we are shaped by electricity, by engines, by digital light. It is in our homes, our work, our speech, and even in our dreams. To ignore it is to close one’s eyes to the very air we breathe. Technology has become the architecture of our daily existence, as commanding as the pyramids once were to Egypt, or the Parthenon to Greece.

And yet, he tells us, it also tends into the future. Technology is not still, but ever in motion. The arrow of invention does not rest but flies always forward, pointing into horizons unseen. Consider the tale of Johannes Gutenberg, whose printing press in the fifteenth century unleashed a revolution that continues even now, centuries later, in every book, every newspaper, every website. What was once a single spark in Mainz became a fire that still burns. So too the inventions of our day will blaze trails into centuries beyond us, long after we are dust.

Mies van der Rohe’s words also reveal the truth that technology is a historical movement — not a collection of curiosities, but one of the great forces that defines an era. Just as the Renaissance was marked by humanism, and the Enlightenment by reason, our age is marked by the rise of machines, the web of information, and the conquest of space and time by wires and circuits. Technology does not merely serve history — it is history, shaping the identity of every epoch, proclaiming to future generations what we valued, what we built, and how we sought to overcome the limits of flesh and stone.

The lesson in these words is vast: to understand technology is to understand ourselves. It is not a stranger that intrudes upon humanity, but a mirror reflecting our desires, our fears, and our ambitions. If we crave power, it delivers power; if we crave connection, it delivers connection; if we crave destruction, it delivers destruction. The force itself is neutral — it is we who determine its path. Thus, the wisdom lies not only in creating, but in guiding, shaping, and disciplining technology, so that it carries forward the noblest parts of our nature, not the darkest.

Therefore, let the listener act: honor the past by remembering the roots of what you use today. Be mindful in the present, for technology already dominates the choices you make, whether in work, in leisure, or in thought. And look to the future with courage, for what we build now will outlive us, shaping generations yet unborn. Let your use of technology be not reckless, but purposeful; not enslaving, but liberating. For Mies van der Rohe has spoken truly: this movement is among the greatest in human history. To guide it well is to shape not only our epoch, but the destiny of all who will follow.