Barcelona Pavilion
Barcelona Pavilion
The Barcelona Pavilion (Catalan: Pavelló alemany; Spanish: Pabellón alemán; "German Pavilion"), designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, was the German Pavilion for the 1929 International Exposition in Barcelona, Spain. This building was used for the official opening of the German section of the exhibition. Technically this building should be called the German Pavilion in Barcelona, since it was constructed as a temporary building for the International Exposition in Barcelona of 1929. Though temporary, it was still made of permanent materials--steel, glass, marble, and travertine.
This building, which rested on a white travertine platform, was entered from the west by a path that led down a forested hill. The view to the immediate left was of a nude female statue by Georg Kolbe, standing in a pool of water framed by walls clad in dramatically veined green marble from the Greek island of Tinos, contrasting with the green of forested hill above. Like a Greek temple, the pavilion is raised on a base, in this case of travertine. The south-facing walls would have received the bright Spanish sun, contrasting with the cool hues of the interior surfaces. There were no doors: only a set of walls that defined spaces through which one walked.
Not only was there the physical impression of this free-flowing space but also the visual sensation created by the rich doors, the opulent surfaces, and the dazzling play of reflections emanating from the polished materials; even the columns were encased in highly reflective chrome sheathing. The building dose have a clear and identifiable spatial focus defined by four different walls, the most important one made of a rare marble called onyx with veins that ranged from dark gold to white. It was flanked by a wall of milk glass lit from within. Visitors saw a series of conjoining and overlapping visual planes, starting with the horizontal view of the trees behind the building framed by the roof and the top of the Tinian
The Barcelona Pavilion (Catalan: Pavelló alemany; Spanish: Pabellón alemán; "German Pavilion"), designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, was the German Pavilion for the 1929 International Exposition in Barcelona, Spain. This building was used for the official opening of the German section of the exhibition. Technically this building should be called the German Pavilion in Barcelona, since it was constructed as a temporary building for the International Exposition in Barcelona of 1929. Though temporary, it was still made of permanent materials--steel, glass, marble, and travertine.
This building, which rested on a white travertine platform, was entered from the west by a path that led down a forested hill. The view to the immediate left was of a nude female statue by Georg Kolbe, standing in a pool of water framed by walls clad in dramatically veined green marble from the Greek island of Tinos, contrasting with the green of forested hill above. Like a Greek temple, the pavilion is raised on a base, in this case of travertine. The south-facing walls would have received the bright Spanish sun, contrasting with the cool hues of the interior surfaces. There were no doors: only a set of walls that defined spaces through which one walked.
Not only was there the physical impression of this free-flowing space but also the visual sensation created by the rich doors, the opulent surfaces, and the dazzling play of reflections emanating from the polished materials; even the columns were encased in highly reflective chrome sheathing. The building dose have a clear and identifiable spatial focus defined by four different walls, the most important one made of a rare marble called onyx with veins that ranged from dark gold to white. It was flanked by a wall of milk glass lit from within. Visitors saw a series of conjoining and overlapping visual planes, starting with the horizontal view of the trees behind the building framed by the roof and the top of the Tinian