Barcelona (aka German) Pavillion
Barcelona, Spain
Mies Van Der Rohe, Architect
Worlds Fair Exhibit of Germany
1928-1929
Model: 1980
Scale: 3/8”=1’0
Mies Van Der Rohe, another pioneer of modern architecture, was the last director of the Bauhaus, the revolutionary school of modern art, design, and architecture. This building was used for the German section at the 1929 International Exhibition and is known for its simple form and use of expensive materials.
The fairly simple structure, comprised of walls and flat roofs, is rich with marble and travertine. The travertine in the model was rendered by painting the plexiglass with a grey primer followed by a finish coat of a beige color that resembles travertine. Using a Dremel tool with a sharp point, I stippled the finish and exposed the grey color underneath. The marble walls were painted using the same colors and grain patterns from photos from the actual house.
I made 3 of these models! The first was commissioned by MoMA for its permanent collection. They have a model from the 1920’s of the Barcelona Pavilion made by Mies Van Der Rohe’s office. However, when Arthur Drexler, chief curator of the Architecture and Design section of MoMA, received my model, he refused to exhibit the Mies model stating that it was not “at the same standard” as mine.
Soon after MoMA exhibited this model, Knoll International commissioned me to make a similar model. They designed the furniture specifically for the original building, including the well-known Barcelona chair.
With Mies’ connection to Bauhaus, the Bauhaus Archive Museum in West Berlin commissioned me to build another model for an exhibit there in 1982.