Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Seating

Architect, furniture designer and educator, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe was a central figure in the advancement and promotion of modernist design and architectural theory and practice. Like Frank Lloyd Wright and Le Corbusier, he was a hugely influential presence in the field, who shaped the course of 20th-century architecture both through his buildings and his teaching of rationalist design principles.
Born in the medieval German city of Aachen, Mies found an interest in architecture as a boy while working for his father, a master stonemason. He had no formal education as an architect, but learned his skills as an apprentice to the designer Bruno Paul, and as a staffer in the office the proto-modernist architect and designer Peter Behrens. Following World War I, Mies rose to prominence in his field amid the liberal atmosphere of the Weimar Republic. His reputation was secured by his work on the German Pavilion at the 1929 International Exposition in Barcelona (commonly referred to as the Barcelona Pavilion) — which Mies codesigned with Lilly Reich, his creative and romantic partner — a radically simple, poetic, open-plan building pared down to its architectural essentials. Mies would go on to direct the Bauhaus from 1930 until 1933, when Nazi-government interference forced the closure of the progressive art and design school. Later that decade, he made his way to Chicago, where he remained for the rest of his career as a practicing architect and a dean of the Illinois Institute of Technology.
Mies’s famed dictum “less is more” grew from his belief that architecture both guides and expresses the spirit of the times, and he envisioned the 20th century as open-minded, logical, transparent and liberated by technology. His best-known buildings — residences such as the Villa Tugendhat in Czechoslovakia and the Farnsworth House in rural Illinois; skyscrapers like the 860–880 Lake Shore Drive apartment towers in Chicago and the Seagram Building in New York — reflect that philosophy. As do the most famous furniture designs authored by him or codesigned with Reich.
Pieces designed by Mies and Reich such as the Barcelona chair (the authorized version is produced by Knoll today), stools and daybed, or the cantilevered Brno chairs, deliver a maximum of comfort and support from a minimum of materials: their “lavishness” derives from the precision with which they are engineered and constructed. For the collector, the allure of Mies’s furniture is at once practical and idealistic. Useful and functional, his works embody the highest aspirations of modernism.
Find vintage Mies van der Rohe chairs, tables and other furniture on 1stDibs.
1960s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Seating
Metal
1980s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Seating
Chrome
1970s Bauhaus Vintage Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Seating
Steel, Chrome
1980s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Seating
Steel
1970s Austrian Bauhaus Vintage Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Seating
Steel
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Seating
Stainless Steel
2010s German Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Seating
Chrome
Mid-20th Century German Bauhaus Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Seating
Steel, Chrome
1960s Vintage Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Seating
Fabric
1980s Vintage Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Seating
Stainless Steel
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Seating
Stainless Steel, Chrome
1970s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Seating
Steel, Chrome
Late 20th Century Mid-Century Modern Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Seating
Steel
1970s American Modern Vintage Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Seating
Leather
Mid-20th Century American Modern Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Seating
Cut Steel
1930s American Bauhaus Vintage Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Seating
Stainless Steel
1960s German Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Seating
Steel, Chrome
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Seating
Metal
1950s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Seating
Steel
1970s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Seating
Stainless Steel
Late 20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Seating
Leather, Wood
2010s American Mid-Century Modern Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Seating
Chrome
1960s German Modern Vintage Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Seating
Chrome
1960s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Seating
Stainless Steel
1970s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Seating
Stainless Steel
Mid-20th Century German Bauhaus Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Seating
Steel, Chrome
1960s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Seating
Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary American Mid-Century Modern Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Seating
Stainless Steel
1970s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Seating
Chrome
1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Seating
Chrome
1960s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Seating
Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary American Bauhaus Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Seating
Steel
Early 2000s Mid-Century Modern Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Seating
Leather
Mid-20th Century Italian Bauhaus Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Seating
Chrome, Steel
1960s German Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Seating
Steel, Chrome
1960s German Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Seating
Steel
1960s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Seating
Chrome
21st Century and Contemporary American Bauhaus Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Seating
Brass, Steel
1970s American Vintage Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Seating
Leather
1960s American Vintage Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Seating
Steel, Chrome
21st Century and Contemporary American Bauhaus Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Seating
Steel
1960s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Seating
Chrome
Early 2000s Italian Modern Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Seating
Leather
1970s Italian Vintage Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Seating
Leather
1960s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Seating
Stainless Steel
Early 20th Century Italian Modern Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Seating
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Seating
Fabric
21st Century and Contemporary American Mid-Century Modern Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Seating
Stainless Steel
1960s Vintage Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Seating
Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary American Bauhaus Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Seating
Steel
1990s American Mid-Century Modern Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Seating
Chrome
2010s German Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Seating
Chrome
1980s Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Seating
Leather, Zebra Hide
Mid-20th Century American Bauhaus Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Seating
Rattan
1960s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Seating
Stainless Steel
1990s Italian Modern Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Seating
Stainless Steel
20th Century American Bauhaus Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Seating
Stainless Steel
Mid-20th Century German Mid-Century Modern Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Seating
Aluminum