Set in late 1940s Chicago, Dr. Edith Farnsworth (Elizabeth Debicki), a woman ahead of her time whose ambitious project to build the first glass house led her into a passionate but tempestuous love affair with the revolutionary Bauhaus architect Mies Van Der Rohe (Ralph Fiennes).

Edith is a determined and fiercely independent woman, a progressive who stands against the conservatism of cold, drab post-war Chicago. She finds a fellow sprit in Mies Van Der Rohe, an emigre whose visionary aesthetic threatens the staid conventions of architecture. Using every penny of her savings, Edith commissions Mies to create a country house. Their combined ambition is audacious and truly avant-garde: to build a house completely made of glass.

As construction begins, Edith and Mies chemistry is undeniable. But their shared passion brings out deep emotions, something Edith embraces but Mies is terrified of exposing. As the house takes shape, this tension between Edith's practical needs is at war against Mies spartan perfection. Their fragile relationship explodes, a battle played out finally in court, where Edith must fight to get her vision and her freedom.

Still admired today, Edith and Mies shared creation is a house of great beauty that helped inspire the modern world.