In the middle of 1928, months before the inauguration of the Barcelona International exposition, Georg Von Schnizler commissioned the tean made up of Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich to desing the German National Pavilion. An excellent opportunity to show the new spirit of the Weimar Republic. The building was a demonstration of the "clarity, simplicity amd honestity" of Germany at that the time.
Built from glass, steel and different kinds of marble, the Pavilion was conceived to accommodate the official reception.
In 1930, once the exposition was over, the building was disassembled, as has been planned.
At theend of the 1950's Oriol Bohigas proposed a project for this reconstruction to Mies. Work began in 1983 and the new building was opened on its original site in 1986.

The Barcelona Pavilion, an emblematic work of the Modern Movement, has been exhaustively studied and interpreted as well as having inspired the oeuvre of several generations of architects.

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

The sculpture is a bronze reproduction of the piece entitled Dawn by Georg Kolbe, a contemporary of Mies van der Rohe. Masterfully placed at one end of the small pond, the sculpture is reflected not only in the water but also in the marble and glass, thereby creating the sensation that it is multiplied in space, while its curves contrast with the geometrical purity of the building.

(Information: Web pavilion and publicationsof Fundació Mies van der Rohe)