Design Classics by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

The seating furniture designed in the late 1920s for the German Pavilion at the World’s Fair in Barcelona truly deserves to be called a classic. On the one hand, because the ensemble of the airy pavilion made the minimalist interior style—later called the “International Style”—famous worldwide. Second, because there are historical references to antiquity. Greek folding chairs (scissor- or elevator-style, used as thrones for deities and rulers) likely served as inspiration. In a sense, therefore, it is a modern throne (without a folding mechanism). In fact, the MR 90 already served highly prestigious purposes in its original context: it was intended to serve as royal seating during the opening ceremony of the World’s Fair in Barcelona . This concept stands in contrast to the social—even socialist—goals advocated by numerous protagonists of “Neues Bauen” at the time. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe used strip steel and leather upholstery in a solemn white at the World’s Fair. The “ Barcelona ” armchair was a luxury piece of furniture and, moreover, hardly suitable for mass production. The frame had to be laboriously welded by hand, which is why the armchair was not produced in a modified version until 1948. Nevertheless, it was an extremely innovative design that expanded the repertoire of Modernism. The separate, identically sized, and individually removable seat and back cushions “fall” into the desired position on their own. The chair derives much of its visual appeal from the contrast between the curved frame and the more static-looking leather blocks.