Barcelona Pavilion
Barcelona Pavilion | |
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Alternative names | German Pavilion |
General information | |
Type | Exhibition building |
Architectural style | Modernism,Minimalism |
Location | Barcelona,Catalonia,Spain |
Coordinates | 41°22′14″N2°09′00″E/ 41.37056°N 2.15000°E |
Construction started | 1928 |
Completed | 1929 |
Inaugurated | 27 May 1929 |
Demolished | 1930 (rebuiltreplicain 1986) |
Client | Government of Germany |
Technical details | |
Structural system | Steel frame with glass and polished stone |
Design and construction | |
Architect(s) | Ludwig Mies van der RoheandLilly Reich |
Website | |
miesbcn |
TheBarcelona Pavilion(Catalan:Pavelló alemany;Spanish:Pabellón alemán;"German Pavilion" ), designed byLudwig Mies van der RoheandLilly Reich,was theGermanPavilion for the1929 International ExpositioninBarcelona,Spain.[1]This building was used for the official opening of the German section of the exhibition.[2]It is an important building in the history ofmodern architecture,known for its simple form and its spectacular use of extravagant materials, such asmarble,redonyxandtravertine.Furnishings specifically designed for the building, including theBarcelona chair,are still in production. It has inspired many important modernist buildings. The original structure was demolished in 1930, and the existing reconstruction was completed in 1986.[3]
Concept
[edit]Mies and Reich were offered the commission of this building in 1928 after his successful administration of the 1927Werkbundexhibition inStuttgart.The German Republic entrusted Mies with the artistic management and erection of not only the Barcelona Pavilion, but for the buildings for all the German sections at the 1929 International Exhibition. However, Mies had severe time constraints—he had to design the Barcelona Pavilion in less than a year—and was also dealing with uncertain economic conditions.[citation needed]
In the years followingWorld War I,Germany started to turn around. The economy started to recover after the 1924Dawes Plan.The pavilion for the International Exhibition was supposed to represent the newWeimar Germany:democratic, culturally progressive, prospering, and thoroughly pacifist; a self-portrait through architecture.[2]The Commissioner, Georg von Schnitzler said it should give "voice to the spirit of a new era".[4]This concept was carried out with the realization of the "free plan"and the" floating roof ".[2]
Building
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/71/Planta_libre-pabell%C3%B3n_de_barcelona.png/240px-Planta_libre-pabell%C3%B3n_de_barcelona.png)
Mies's response to the proposal byvon Schnitzlerwas radical. After rejecting the original site for aesthetic reasons, Mies agreed to a quiet site at the narrow side of a wide, diagonal axis, where the pavilion would still offer viewpoints and a route leading to one of the exhibition's main attractions, thePoble Espanyol.[5]
The pavilion was to be bare, with no exhibits, leaving only the structure accompanying a single sculpture and specially-designed furniture (theBarcelona Chair). This lack of accommodation enabled Mies to treat the Pavilion as a continuous space; blurring inside and outside. "The design was predicated on an absolute distinction between structure and enclosure—a regular grid of cruciform steel columns interspersed by freely spaced planes".[4]However, the structure was more of a hybrid style, some of these planes also acted as supports.[4]The floor plan is very simple. The entire building rests on aplinthof travertine.[3]A southern U-shaped enclosure, also of travertine, helps form a service annex and a large water basin. The floor slabs of the pavilion project out and over the pool—once again connecting inside and out. Another U-shaped wall on the opposite side of the site also forms a smaller water basin. This is where the statue byGeorg Kolbesits. The roof plates, relatively small, are supported by the chrome-clad, cruciform columns. This gives the impression of a hovering roof.[2]Robin Evans said that the reflective columns appear to be struggling to hold the "floating" roof plane down, not to be bearing its weight.[4]
Mies wanted this building to become "an ideal zone of tranquillity" for the weary visitor, who should be invited into the pavilion on the way to the next attraction. Since the pavilion lacked a real exhibition space, the building itself was to become the exhibit. The pavilion was designed to "block" any passage through the site, rather, one would have to go through the building. Visitors would enter by going up a few stairs, and due to the slightly sloped site, would leave at ground level in the direction of the Poble Espanyol. The visitors were not meant to be led in a straight line through the building, but to take continuous turnabouts. The walls not only created space, but also directed visitor's movements. This was achieved by wall surfaces being displaced against each other, running past each other, and creating a space that became narrower or wider.
Another unique feature of this building is the exotic materials Mies chooses to use. Plates of high-grade stone materials like veneers ofTinosverde anticomarbleand goldenonyxas well as tinted glass of grey, green, white, as well as translucent glass, perform exclusively as spatial dividers.
Because this was planned as an exhibition pavilion, it was intended to exist only temporarily. The building was torn down in early 1930, not even a year after it was completed.
Reconstruction
[edit]Between 1983 and 1986, a group of Catalan architects formed theMies van der Rohe Foundationand reconstructed the pavilion permanently, based on historical drawings and rediscovered footings on the site.[3]The reconstruction has been a popular tourist destination, but it also has been controversial among architects, critics, and historians. Some have hailed it as a revived masterpiece, some have condemned it as a "fake," and others are ambivalent. "[T]his building is not supposed to exist," assertedPaul Goldbergerat the time. During planning,Philip Johnsonwondered, "The problem before us is should a dream be realized or not? We have made such a myth of that building. Shouldn’t it be left in the sacred vault of the memory bank?" ArchitectLance Hoseyhas thoroughly documented reactions to the reconstruction, concluding that while the reconstruction is a better physical artifact, the original was an irreplaceable product of its sociopolitical context.[6]
Sculpture
[edit]The Pavilion was not only a pioneer for construction forms with a fresh, disciplined understanding of space, but also for modelling new opportunities for an association of free art and architecture. Mies placedGeorg Kolbe'sAlba( "Dawn" )[7]in the small water basin, leaving the larger one all the more empty. The sculpture also ties into the highly reflective materials Mies used—he chose the place where these optical effects would have the strongest impact; the building offers multiple views ofAlba."From now on, in the sense of equality for juxtaposing building and visual work, sculptures were no longer to be applied retrospectively to the building, but rather to be a part of the spatial design, to help define and interpret it. To the day, one of the most notable examples is the Barcelona Pavilion".[5]
Interventions programme
[edit]Since the Pavilion's reconstruction in the 1980s, theMies van der Rohe Foundationhas invited leading artists and architects to temporarily alter the Pavilion. These installations and alterations, called "interventions",[8]have kept the pavilion as a node of debate on architectural ideas and practices. The list of invited people includes architectsKazuyo SejimaandRyue Nishizawa(SANAA) who added spiral acrylic interior walls,[9]artistAi Weiweiwho refilled two pools with coffee and milk,[10]Andrés Jaque[11]who revealed the pavilion's so far disregarded basement and its role in hiding the daily making of the site's experience,Enric Miralles,Antoni Muntadaswho brought to the pavilion the smell of the MoMA archives where its memory is preserved andJordi Bernadówho removed the pavilion's glass doors.[12]The architect and activistAndrés Jaque(Office for Political Innovation), artistsKatarzyna Krakowiak,[13][14]Laura Martínez de Guereñu,[15]and the designerSabine Marcelis[16]have also been commissioned to create pieces for the interventions programme.
Lilly Reich Grant for equality in architecture
[edit]In 2018, theMies van der Rohe Foundationpresented the first edition of the Lilly Reich Grant for equality in architecture.[17][18]The recipient of the inaugural grant wasRe-enactment: Lilly Reich's work occupies the Barcelona Pavilionsubmitted by Laura Martínez de Guereñu.[19][20]In 2020, the second grant was awarded to[On Set with] Lilly Reichsubmitted by Laura Lizondo Sevilla, Débora Domingo Calabuig, and Avelina Prat García.[21]The third grant, in 2022, was awarded to the submissionAnna Bofill Levi.Architecture as a Counter-Melody (1977–1996)by María-Elia Gutiérrez Mozo, José Parra Martínez, Ana Gilsanz Díaz, and Joaquín Arnau Amo.[18]
Gallery
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Barcelona Pavilion (reconstruction)
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View towards annex showingcantileveredroof-slabs
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Another view showing annex and large reflecting pool
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View showing thecruciformsteel columns
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Another view
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Dawn (Der Morgen) byGeorg Kolbe
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View showing small reflecting pool
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Barcelona Chair(Dawn sculpture in background)
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Barcelona Ottoman (showingbook-matchedonyx wall)
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Another view
See also
[edit]- Ibero-American Exposition of 1929was aworld's fairheld inSeville,Spain,from 9 May 1929 until 21 June 1930.
References
[edit]- ^"The Pavilion – Fundació Mies van der Rohe".
- ^abcdZimmerman, Claire (2006).Mies van der Rohe.Hong Kong: Taschen.ISBN3-8228-3643-5.
- ^abcde Solà-Morales, Ignasi; Cirici, Cristian; Ramos, Fernando (1993).Mies van der Rohe: Barcelona Pavilion.Barcelona: Gustavo Gili.ISBN8425216079.
- ^abcdWeston, Richard (2004).Key Building of the Twentieth Century.W.W. Norton and Company.ISBN0-393-73145-6.
- ^abBerger, Ursel (2007).Barcelona Pavilion.Berlin: Jovis.ISBN978-3-939633-06-8.
- ^Hosey, Lance (9 October 2018). "The Ship of Theseus: Identity and the Barcelona Pavilion(s)".Journal of Architectural Education.72(2): 230–247.doi:10.1080/10464883.2018.1496731.S2CID115758753.
- ^"The Mies van der Rohe Pavilion".Miesbcn. Archived fromthe originalon 25 January 2009.Retrieved15 August2012.
- ^"Art Interventions Archives – Fundació Mies van der Rohe".Fundació Mies van der Rohe.Retrieved3 January2023.
- ^Etherington, Rose (25 November 2008)."Mies van der Rohe Pavilion installation by SANAA".De Zeen.
- ^"Chinese Artist Ai Weiwei Transforms the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion".Art Daily.11 December 2009.
- ^"Architecture and/of the Other. PHANTOM. Mies as Rendered Society by Andrés Jaque".Quaderns.
- ^Frearson, Amy (12 April 2014)."Jordi Bernadó removes doors from Mies van der Rohe's Barcelona Pavilion".De Zeen.
- ^"It begins with one word. Choose your own. Katarzyna Krakowiak at the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion, Barcelona".The Adam Mickiewicz Institute.Retrieved3 January2023.
- ^Welch, Adrian (27 July 2020)."Sound Intervention at Mies van der Rohe Pavilion".e-architect.Retrieved22 March2024.
- ^"IE School of Architecture and Design, Laura Martínez de Guereñu".IE University.Retrieved3 January2023.
- ^Thompson, Henrietta (20 December 2019)."Sabine Marcelis' seamless intervention at the Mies van der Rohe Barcelona Pavilion".wallpaper.Retrieved3 January2023.
- ^"Mies van der Rohe Foundation Launches Lilly Reich Grant for Equality in Architecture".Archdaily.16 June 2020.Retrieved1 November2020.
- ^ab"Lilly Reich Grant for equality in architecture – Fundació Mies van der Rohe".miesbcn.Retrieved29 November2022.
- ^Conti, Giulia (13 December 2022)."Lilly Reich e l'essenza tessile del progetto".Giornale dell'Architettura(in Italian).Retrieved26 January2023.
- ^"1st Lilly Reich Grant for Equality in Architecture"(PDF).Fundació Mies van der Rohe.1 October 2018.Retrieved26 January2023.
- ^"2nd Lilly Reich Grant for Equality in Architecture"(PDF).Fundació Mies van der Rohe.Retrieved26 January2023.
Further reading
[edit]- Dodds, George (2005).Building Desire.New York: Routledge.ISBN0-415-32524-2.
- Rubio, Ignasi (1993).Mies Van Der Rohe: Barcelona Pavilion.New York: Watson-Guptill Publications.ISBN84-252-1607-9.
- Campbell, Katie (2007).Icons of Twentieth-Century Landscape Design.London: Frances Lincoln. pp. 38–42.ISBN978-0-7112-2533-6.
- Lapunzina, Alejandro (2005).Architecture of Spain.Westport: Greenwood Press. pp. 76–81.ISBN0-313-31963-4.
- Dietrich Neumann with David Caralt (2020):An Accidental Masterpiece. Mies van der Rohe's Barcelona Pavilion,Basel: Birkhäuser,ISBN978-3-0356-1986-7
- Dietrich Neumann with David Caralt (Eds.) (2020):The Barcelona Pavilion by Mies van der Rohe. One Hundred Texts since 1929,Basel: Birkhäuser,ISBN978-3-0356-1985-0
External links
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Fundación Mies van der Rohe."1929. The Barcelona Pavilion".Archived fromthe originalon 25 January 2009.Retrieved14 January2009.
- Views of the replica German Pavilion
- Image gallery on the Barcelona Pavilion
- Photos of Barcelona Pavilion and Barcelona Chair
- Werkbund Exhibition of 1927
- Buildings and structures in Barcelona
- Ludwig Mies van der Rohe buildings
- Buildings and structures completed in 1929
- Modernist architecture in Barcelona
- International style architecture in Europe
- Tourist attractions in Barcelona
- World's fair architecture in Barcelona
- Sants-Montjuïc
- 1929 Barcelona International Exposition
- Montjuïc