Barcelona Chair by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

Today I show you some pictures about Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Pavilion described in my previous post. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe was born in Aachen, Germany in 1886 and died in Chicago, Illinois in 1969. Influenced by Prussian architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel and his use of simple cubic forms and broad proportions and seduced by Russian Constructivism and the Dutch De Stijl group, this young employee in his father's stone-carving business soon got to hobnob with the best of Berlin's cultural society in the 20's. He entered the famous Bauhaus design school, and created modernist furniture classics such as our Barcelona Chair in 1929 and the Brno chair in 1929-1930. 

Here is another picture of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Pavilion, one of the best exponents of his new ideas: enclosed large open "universal" spaces with clearly ordered structural frameworks.

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Pavilion in Barcelona

Back in 1929, during Barcelona International Exposition, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, the famous architect built the German Pavilion which was demolished one year later when the Exposition was over. In the 80's, the Pavilion was reconstructed on the same place (near Barcelona Fair premises and MNAC) by architects Ignasi Solà-Morales, Christian Cirici and Fernando Ramos. 

Don't expect too much from the site as it is just a pavilion to admire design and material. If you are an architecture enthusiast perhaps you can buy interest books on Ludwig Mies van der Rohe at the bookshop. Tomorrow I will show you more pictures and write some words about this famous German architect. Hereby, I acknowledge the kind suggestion of my wife in choosing this place and specifically in taking this shot.

Modernist Lamp Post at Passeig de Gracia, Barcelona

One of the distinguishing traits of Passeig de Gracia in Barcelona, are these modernist lamp posts on both sides of the street. Unlike gas street lighting installed in 1852, these lamp posts with benches date back from 1906 and were designed by Pere Falqués. There are 31 in all as far as I am concerned and were restored in the 80's during a remodeling campaign in the city. Please examine this other shot of the lamp post for more details.