10 things you did not know about the Barcelona chair

1. The making of the Barcelona chair is sometimes said to be accidental to the making of the German Pavilion. Rightly so because the Barcelona chair was in fact designed to be used for the German Pavilion during the 1929 Barcelona Worlds Fair.

2. The Barcelona chair took the attention away from the exquisite interiors of the German Pavilion. The Pavilion itself was elegantly made from eight steel posts, curtain glass walling.

3. The original Barcelona chair which was designed for the German Pavilion was dismantled when the Barcelona Fair ended. However, there is a replica of the Barcelona chair which you can still find on the same time.

4. There was two, not one original Barcelona chair designed for display purposes at the German Pavilion during the Barcelona World Fair.

5. The Barcelona chair is the designer’s interpretation of the folding chair used by Egyptian royalty as well as the folding footstool of the Romans. That alone makes the Barcelona chair a good historical piece.

6. The Barcelona chair is a product of the collaboration between two artists, architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and architect Lilly Reich. Their specific contributions could not however be ascertained but it would be worth noting that van der Rohe had never designed furniture before and even after their partnership.

7. Prior to the success of the Barcelona chair, designer van der Rohe was able to patent a laminated wood furniture known as the M20 chair which was made of tubular steel cantilever.

8. The genuine Barcelona chairs boast of designer Mies van der Rohe’s facsimile signature on the frame. Also check out the Knoll studio logo stamped on the other frame.

9. The exclusive right to manufacture the Barcelona chairs has been awarded to Knoll, Inc. which also owns the trademark of the Barcelona chairs by mies van der rohe.

10. The original Barcelona chair had bolted framed but was later on redesigned using seamless stainless steel. The original Barcelona chair was also made of pigskin leather but was replaced by Bovine leather later on.