Barcelona Chair
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The Barcelona chair is based on the cantilever principle to enhance the feeling of lightness, and uses leather straps to suspend leather-covered cushions from a chrome-plated steel frame.
A timeless classic that will be an eye catcher in any setting
– Modern design
– Special craftsmanship
Royal seating comfort
A typical KnollStudio design made to Mies’ original specifications.
An up-and-coming modernist figure, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe was chosen to design the German Pavilion for the 1929 World’s Fair in Barcelona.
Through masterful proportioning and planning, Mies created a rhythmic and wholly innovative space that elevated the materials of the industrial age to a level of grace never before achieved. Inside, Mies placed chairs and stools intended as resting places for the King and Queen of Spain. Mies was determined to create a chair worthy of a king, and is thought to have based the designs on the campaign chairs of ancient Rome, with their distinctive cross-shaped frames. Says Mies, “I feel that it must be possible to reconcile the old and the new in our civilization.”
Although the Barcelona Pavilion stood for only seven months, it is considered one of the most important achievements of modern architecture, as are the accompanying Barcelona Chairs (although the king and queen reportedly never sat on them).
A legend with history
Mies, a close friend and mentor of Florence Knoll during her time at the Illinois Institute of Technology, officially granted Knoll the production rights for the Barcelona Chair and Stool in 1953. The designs immediately became a Knoll trademark and have been built to Mies van der Rohe’s exacting standards ever since.
The KnollStudio logo and Mies van der Rohe’s signature are stamped into the base of each chair.
Design
Mies van der Rohe
