The Barcelona chair is a chair designed by

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Ludwig Mies van der Rohe ( ; ; born Maria Ludwig Michael Mies; March 27, 1886August 17, 1969) was a German-American architect. He was commonly referred to as Mies, his surname. Along with Alvar Aalto, Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius and Frank Lloyd ...

and

Lilly Reich Lilly Reich (16 June 1885 – 14 December 1947) was a German designer of textiles, furniture, interiors, and exhibition spaces. She was a close collaborator with Ludwig Mies van der Rohe for more than ten years during the Weimar period in the 19 ...

, for the German Pavilion at the International Exposition of 1929, hosted by

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. The chair was first used in

Villa Tugendhat Villa Tugendhat is an architecturally significant building in Brno, Czech Republic. It is one of the pioneering prototypes of modern architecture in Europe, and was designed by the German architects Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich. It w ...

, a private residence, designed by Mies in

Brno Brno ( , ; german: Brünn ) is a city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava and Svratka rivers, Brno has about 380,000 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in the Czech Republic ...

(

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

Materials and manufacture

The frame was initially designed to be bolted together but was redesigned in 1950 using stainless steel, which allowed the frame to be formed by a seamless piece of metal, giving it a smoother appearance. Bovine leather replaced the ivory-colored pigskin which was used for the original pieces.

Philosophy and ergonomics

Although many architects and furniture designers of the

Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the Bauhaus (), was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., 200 ...

era were intent on providing well-designed homes and impeccably manufactured furnishings for the "common man," the Barcelona chair was an exception. It was designed for the Spanish Royalty to oversee the opening ceremonies of the exhibition and was described by Time magazine as inhabiting "his sumptuous German pavilion." The form is thought to be extrapolated from Roman folding chairs known as the

Curule chair A curule seat is a design of a (usually) foldable and transportable chair noted for its uses in Ancient Rome and Europe through to the 20th century. Its status in early Rome as a symbol of political or military power carried over to other civilizat ...

upholstered stools used by Roman aristocracy. According to Knoll Inc., despite its industrial appearance the Barcelona chair requires much hand craftsmanship.

Current production

Since 1953 Knoll Inc has manufactured the Barcelona chair in both chrome and stainless steel. The chairs are almost completely hand-crafted, and each carries a facsimile of van der Rohe's signature, stamped into its frame. Barcelona Ottoman Barcelona Pavilion

Unlicensed replicas of the original design are made by other manufacturers worldwide and are sold under different marketing names. Such designs are frequently subject to legal challenges. Mies-Barcelona-Chair-and-Ottoman

In popular culture

In his 1981 book about

modern architecture Modern architecture, or modernist architecture, was an architectural movement or architectural style based upon new and innovative technologies of construction, particularly the use of glass, steel, and reinforced concrete; the idea that form ...

, ''

From Bauhaus to Our House ''From Bauhaus to Our House'' is a 1981 narrative of Modern architecture, written by Tom Wolfe. Background In 1975 Wolfe made his first foray into art criticism with ''The Painted Word'', in which he argued that art theory had become too pervasi ...

'',

Tom Wolfe Thomas Kennerly Wolfe Jr. (March 2, 1930 – May 14, 2018)Some sources say 1931; ''The New York Times'' and Reuters both initially reported 1931 in their obituaries before changing to 1930. See and was an American author and journalist widely ...

called the Barcelona chair as "the

Platonic ideal The theory of Forms or theory of Ideas is a philosophical theory, fuzzy concept, or world-view, attributed to Plato, that the physical world is not as real or true as timeless, absolute, unchangeable ideas. According to this theory, ideas in th ...

of the chair", and wrote that, despite its high price, owning one had become a necessity for young architects: "When you saw the holy object on the

sisal rug Sisal (, ) (''Agave sisalana'') is a species of flowering plant native to southern Mexico, but widely cultivated and naturalized in many other countries. It yields a stiff fibre used in making rope and various other products. The term sisal may ...

, you knew you were in a household where a fledgling architect and his young wife had sacrificed everything to bring the symbol of the godly mission into their home." On the cover of the fifth volume of ''

Spy × Family ''Spy × Family'' (stylized as ''SPY×FAMILY'' and pronounced "Spy Family") is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tatsuya Endo. The story follows a spy who has to "build a family" to execute a mission, not realizing that th ...

'', the character Yuri Briar is shown sitting on a Barcelona chair.

References

* ''Sourcebook of Modern Furniture, Third Edition'', Jerryll Habegger and Joseph H Osman * ''Miles van der Rohe'', Aurora Cuito and Cristina Montes * ''Bauhaus'', Hans Engels and Ulf Meyer * ''Modernism - designing a new world'', Christopher Wilk, V&A p. 155 * ''Oxford Dictionary of Modern Design'', Jonathan Woodham

External links