Studies of Mies van der Rohe's Barcelona Pavilion concentrate on the architect's innovative spatial concept. The fluid, continuous space and the carefully considered reduction of the interior-exterior distinction made the Pavilion a landmark in architectural history. Less attention has been paid to the vital role that natural illumination plays in Mies' concept. Working with very little electrical light and with reflections from water and the varied materials of the walls and windows, Mies created a refuge from the blistering Spanish sun that is, paradoxically, lit primarily by sunlight.
COMMISSION, SITE, CONSTRUCTION, AND MATERIALS
The German Pavilion at the Barcelona International Exposition of 1929 was designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. The Barcelona Pavilion, as it is commonly known, opened on May 19, 1929 and was dismantled at the closing of the exposition in January, 1930. In 1986 the building was reconstructed at its original site.
The Pavilion had no function other than to represent the German nation at the exposition. The German industrial exhibits (the purpose of the exposition) were housed in the German Electrical Industry Pavilion which was also designed by Mies. All the exhibits were designed by Mies and his partner Lilly Reich. All the furniture, including the famous "Barcelona" chairs in the national pavilion, was also designed by Mies. Since it was an industrial exposition, however, and since Mies was charged with displaying German industrial goods to their best advantage, it is reasonable to assume that, in a sense, German skill in producing and handling steel, glass and concrete was on display in the Pavilion.
On the hillside grounds of the exposition Mies chose a site that lay across a footpath leading to one of the exposition's most popular exhibits -- a mockup village displaying the history of Spanish domestic architecture. The site contributed to the design of the Pavilion which came ...