In a profession that spans more than half the 20th century, the German architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe made not just buildings but furniture too. With the assistance of German interior designer Lilly Reich, Mies van der Rohe completed various furnishings for utilize in the interiors of his architectural projects. One design that is recognized by many to be his top work in modern furniture is the self-styled Barcelona chair.
The key piece in the Barcelona furniture collection, the Barcelona chair is a light steel chair created by Mies van der Rohe during 1928 and 1929. The chair was purposely-made for the German Pavilion, a momentary exposition building Mies van der Rohe designed to symbolize Germany at the 1929 Salon d’ Automne art display in Barcelona, Spain (hence its name).
A master of modern design, Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona chair was definitely clear and unique. The chair’s cross-like frame is based on the ancient Egyptian folding chair and the Roman “sella curulis” courts’ chair, and made from pieces of chrome-plated steel. Barcelona Chairs produced after the 1950s, but, featured stainless steel frames as stainless steel made it possible for the border to be formed into just one piece. The cushions of the chair are finished from either natural or synthetic filling, and covered with white pigskin and black leather. And to set them firmly in place, the cushions are attached to the chair via specially-designed press stud fixings.
After its victorious introduction at the International Exposition, the Barcelona chair was reproduced in limited quantities in Europe and the US until the 1950s, when Florence Knoll acquired the rights to produce the chair from Mies van der Rohe. Today, the Knoll designer furniture business remains as a leading manufacturer of the Barcelona chair, although reproductions from other manufacturers are also widely available.
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