German Pavilion at the 1929 International Exhibition
Av. Marquès de Comillas
Montjuïc
08038 Barcelona
Spain

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

The original 1929 pavilion building, despite its enormous influence on the emerging International Style of architecture, was demolished the year after the International Exhibition when nobody wanted to buy it from the German Government. It was recreated in its original form and on the same site in 1981-1986 by the Barcelona City Council.

The 'ambivalent and ineffable quality of its spatial and material form. Certain displacements in its volume were brought about by illusory surface readings such as that effected by the use of green tinted glass screens, to emerge as the mirror equivalents of the main bounding planes. These planes, faced in polished green Tinian marble, in their turn reflected the highlights of the chromium vertical glazing bars holding the glass in place. A comparable play in terms of texture and color was effected by the contrast between the internal core plane of polished onyx... and the long travertine wall that flanked the main terrace with its large reflecting pool. Here, bounded by travertine and agitated by the wind, the broken surface of the water distorted the mirror image of the building. In contrast to this, the internal space of the pavilion, modulated by columns and mullions, terminated in an enclosed court, containing a reflecting pool lined with black glass.'

Despite its apparently simple rectangular plan, there are almost no corners in the building, or anything that might suggest you are in a box. The generous canopy roof, walls that stop well short of abutting one another, and the floor-to-ceiling glazing break down the distinction between inside and outside. Even the doors are in the form of two halves of an all-glass wall, which rotate not about hinges at their edges, but about a pivot in the floor and ceiling a few inches from the edge: the result is that when opened through ninety degrees each door becomes just another freestanding, parallel glass plane in keeping with the other planes defining the spaces in the building.

Along with Mies’ 1965 Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin, the pavilion is considered one of the foremost examples of structural abstraction emblematic of the International Style.

The Barcelona Pavilion, a work emblematic of the Modern Movement, has been exhaustively studied and interpreted as well as having inspired the oeuvre of several generations of architects. It was designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886-1969) as the German national pavilion for the 1929 Barcelona International Exhibition. Built from glass, travertine and different kinds of marble, the Pavilion was conceived to accommodate the official reception presided over by King Alphonso XIII of Spain along with the German authorities.

After the closure of the Exhibition, the Pavilion was disassembled in 1930. As time went by, it became a key point of reference not only in Mies van der Rohe's own career but also in twentieth-century architecture as a whole. Given the significance and reputation of the Pavilion, thoughts turned towards its possible reconstruction.

In 1980 Oriol Bohigas, as head of the Urban Planning Department at the Barcelona City Council, set the project in motion, designating architects Ignasi de Solà-Morales, Cristian Cirici and Fernando Ramos to research, design and supervise the reconstruction of the Pavilion. Work began in 1983 and the new building was opened on its original site in 1986.

The materials

Glass, steel and four different kinds of marble (Roman travertine, green Alpine marble, ancient green marble from Greece and golden onyx from the Atlas Mountains) were used for the reconstruction, all of the same characteristics and provenance as the ones originally employed by Mies in 1929. Mies van der Rohe's originality in the use of materials lay not so much in novelty as in the ideal of modernity they expressed through the rigour of their geometry, the precision of the pieces and the clarity of their assembly.

Plan of Barcelona Pavilion

Site Plan

Plan

The building stood on a large podium alongside a pool. The structure itself consisted of eight steel posts supporting a flat roof, with curtain glass walling and a handful of partition walls. The overall impression is of perpendicular planes in three dimensions forming a cool, luxurious space.

Main entrance – The staircase

The single story building has no real function--it is the exhibit. The plan is asymmetric and fluid with a continuous flow of space. Wall partitions are made of both transparent and opaque glass as well as highly polished marble. The low flat roof is supported by delicate metal supports. As has often been noted, the building has a kind of classical serenity.

Views of the right half.

Views of the left half.

View from the rear of the building.

The Interior.

Mies also designed the chairs (the so-called "Barcelona chair") and stools.

Technically this building should be called the German Pavilion in Barcelona, since it was constructed as a temporary building for the International Exposition in Barcelona of 1929. Though temporary, it was still made of permanent materials- steel, glass, marble, and travertine.

Like a Greek temple, the pavilion is raised on a base, in this case of travertine. See also Crown Hall, Illinois Institute of Technology. The main building is on the right half of the base; an oblong reflecting pool and smaller building are on the left half.

The Barcelona chair.

Mies van der Rohe designed a chair, especially for the Pavilion, consisting of a leatherupholstered metallic profile that over the years has become an icon of modern design. To such an extent, in fact, that the Barcelona chair is still manufactured and marketed today.

Georg Kolbe's sculpture.