Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Barcelona Chair
View Similar Items
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Barcelona Chair
About the Item
- Creator:Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (Designer)
- Design:
- Dimensions:Height: 29 in (73.66 cm)Width: 29.5 in (74.93 cm)Depth: 32 in (81.28 cm)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1961
- Condition:
- Seller Location:Pompano Beach, FL
- Reference Number:Seller: W1971stDibs: 09112388246
Barcelona Chair
For the German Pavilion at the 1929 International Exposition in Barcelona, German-American architect and furniture maker Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886–1969) — in collaboration with his romantic partner, designer Lilly Reich (1885–1947) — created a chair fit for royalty.
The Spanish king, Alfonso XIII, was expected to attend the opening of the World’s Fair, and as Mies later stated, the chair needed to be “monumental . . . you just couldn’t use a kitchen chair.” In its X-shaped structure, the Barcelona chair recalls the ancient folding stools of Egypt and Rome and was designed with swooping lines and a luxe contrast of materials between the chrome-plated frame and quilted leather cushions. Like the pavilion surrounding it, the chair distilled Mies’s “less is more” aphorism.
By all accounts, King Alfonso XIII never got around to sitting on this modern throne. The pavilion, too, stood for only seven months before it was demolished. Nevertheless, the Barcelona chair was regarded as a masterwork of modernism, influencing countless buildings that followed with its minimalist aesthetic of marble, glass and steel, which gracefully flowed together from the exterior to the interior spaces. Out of all the pavilion’s components, the Barcelona chair had the most longevity as a stand-alone piece.
Shortly after the close of the pavilion, the Barcelona chair went into production, first handcrafted by the Berliner Metallgewerbe studio. It became popular in private residences, debuting in America in 1930 in the New York apartment of architect Philip Johnson, who had met Mies during his work on the German Pavilion in Spain.
Fleeing the Nazis’ rise to power in Germany, Mies, too, soon moved to the United States. He relocated to Chicago, where he became the director of the Illinois Institute of Technology in 1938. It was there that he met designer Florence Knoll, who would help bring the Barcelona chair into mass production.
The earliest models of the Barcelona chair from Knoll were released in 1947. The design company and furniture manufacturer made slight updates to the chair over the years in response to new technology, including in 1964 changing the frame to stainless steel. Prevalent in office lobbies and architects’ homes, the Barcelona chair has seen numerous imitators, so in 2004 Knoll finally received a federal trade dress protection for it and four other pieces by Mies.
Knoll continues to produce the chair, and although the 21st-century version differs slightly from the 1929 original, it still embodies Mies and Reich's vision of design elegance in its balance of function and form.
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
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.
- Pair of Lounge Chairs by Poul KjaerholmBy Poul Kjærholm, E. Kold ChristensenLocated in Pompano Beach, FLPoul Kjaerholm lounge chairs. Matte chrome-plated steel and cane. Impressed manufacturer's marks to underside. E Kold Christensen Denmark.Category
Vintage 1950s Danish Slipper Chairs
$14,500 / set - Art Deco Club ChairsLocated in Pompano Beach, FLFrench Art Deco pair of club chairs with black lacquered trim and new pink and brown floral upholstery. The seat height is 15”, Back height is 31”, Front to back is 26”, Arm to arm i...Category
Vintage 1930s French Club Chairs
MaterialsWood
$4,200 / set - Four French Art Deco Club ChairsLocated in Pompano Beach, FLSet of four French Art Deco club chairs with black lacquered trim and new pink and gray floral upholstery. The seat height is 15” Back height is 31” Front to back is 26” Arm to arm...Category
Vintage 1930s French Armchairs
MaterialsFabric
$5,350 / set - Machine Age John McKay Springer Lounge ChairLocated in Pompano Beach, FLExtremely rare springer lounge chair with a cream leather sling seat on polished chrome and cream enameled flat steel base. The design of this chair was done for the Miami Pavilion of the House of Tomorrow for the 1933-1934 Chicago World’s Fair.Category
Vintage 1930s Lounge Chairs
MaterialsLeather
$4,000 Sale Price26% Off - Pair of Streamline Lounge Chairs and Sofa by ThonetBy ThonetLocated in Pompano Beach, FLPair of streamline lounge chairs and streamline sofa by Thonet in sage cotton velvet and maple stained legs. Dimensions for chairs: 33 H x...Category
Vintage 1950s American Art Deco Living Room Sets
MaterialsCotton, Velvet
$7,800 Sale Price / set40% Off - Pair of Art Deco Club Chairs in Parchment and Black LeatherLocated in Pompano Beach, FLPair of Art Deco club chairs in parchment and black leather.Category
Vintage 1940s Club Chairs
MaterialsLeather, Parchment Paper
$3,300 Sale Price / set58% Off
- Barcelona Chair by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe for KnollBy Ludwig Mies van der RoheLocated in Centreville, VAAs a rising figure of the modernist movement, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe was selected to design the German Pavilion for the 1929 International Exposition in Barcelona. Through masterf...Category
Vintage 1920s American Bauhaus Lounge Chairs
MaterialsChrome
- Large Mies van der Rohe Style Black Leather Lounge ChairBy Ludwig Mies van der RoheLocated in Los Angeles, CALarge Mies van der Rohe style black leather lounge chair. Not the usual copy of the Barcelona chair. Measures: 18 in. seat height. 3 chairs are...Category
Vintage 1960s French Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsChrome
- Large Mies van der Rohe Style Black Leather Lounge ChairBy Ludwig Mies van der RoheLocated in Los Angeles, CALarge Mies van der Rohe style black leather lounge chair. Not the usual copy of the Barcelona chair. 18 in. seat height. 3 chairs are available. Pr...Category
Vintage 1960s French Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsChrome
- Large Mies van der Rohe Style Black Leather Lounge ChairBy Ludwig Mies van der RoheLocated in Los Angeles, CALarge Mies van der Rohe style black leather lounge chair. Not the usual copy of the Barcelona chair. 18 in. seat height. 3 chairs are available...Category
Vintage 1960s French Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsChrome
- Museum Quality Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Barcelona Chairs with TableBy Ludwig Mies van der RoheLocated in Dallas, TXSomeone heavily involved in the Mies catalogue raisonne project has personally confirmed that these chairs are in fact authentic Barcelona chairs manufactured by the German Company, ...Category
Mid-20th Century German Bauhaus Lounge Chairs
MaterialsSteel
- Ludwig mies Van Der Rohe Barcelona ChairsBy Ludwig Mies van der RoheLocated in West Palm Beach, FLA fine original Pair of Mies Van Der Rohe Barcelona Chairs Original Full Grain Leather Seats and Straps Clean Polished Steel Frame Or...Category
Vintage 1960s American Chairs
MaterialsLeather