NELSON BRIDGE’S LIST OF TOP TEN MODERN CHAIRS - #06 - The Barcelona Lounge

#6 in our list of Favorite Chairs, The Barcelona Lounge Chair

The Barcelona Chair has become one of the few icons of Modern furniture that has been embraced by popular culture. Seen in movies like 007’s “From Russia with Love”, the Barcelona chair has been used as a statement of “Modern” in cinema, hotels and homes since the Mid 19th Century. With it’s addition, spaces become at once “modern”.

The Barcelona Chair was designed by the famed Architect Mies Van der Rohe (who’s commissions included the Seagram’s Building in New York) and his long time companion Lilly Reich. It has come to be known as the Barcelona chair because it was originally designed for the German Pavillion at the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929 that took place in that Spanish city.

Said to have been inspired by the transportable folding chairs of ancient times, the Barcelona chair is neither foldable nor easily transportable. Perhaps, one could in fact make a case for it being the first Post-Modern chair; since it is inspired by the forms of the past without being made like or used like the original design. Modern or Post-Modern, the Barcelona chair is nonetheless one of our ten favorite chairs.

Learn More About Mies Van Der Rohe and The Barcelona Lounge Chair:

Barcelona Chair @ Wikipedia

Barcelona Lounge Chair @ Knoll.com

Barcelona Lounge Chair @ Modern Collections .Com

Barcelona Lounge Chair Catalog PDF @ Knoll.com