The Barcelona Pavilion began as Germany's contribution to the 1929 International Exposition. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich designed a ceremonial setting at Montjuïc, where Spain's king and queen received German representatives. Its few enclosed spaces gave the architecture itself an unusually prominent role: visitors encountered changing views across water, glass and freestanding walls.
Slender steel supports and a low roof establish a precise horizontal frame. Within it, Roman travertine, green marble and golden onyx bring different colors and patterns to the surfaces. The polished stone is essential to the composition. Moving around a wall changes both the route and the relationship between an interior room, a reflected image and an outdoor court.
The original pavilion was dismantled in 1930. The building seen today is a reconstruction on the original site, opened in 1986 after work by Ignasi de Solà-Morales, Cristian Cirici and Fernando Ramos. The Barcelona chair belongs to the same design, connecting the pavilion's carefully controlled architecture with an equally recognizable piece of furniture.
Barcelona chair
