Barcelona chair

English

Barcelona chair

Etymology

From Barcelona, Spain, where the International Exhibition of 1929, at which the chair was first exhibited, was held.

Noun

Barcelona chair (plural Barcelona chairs)

1. A chair, designed by Mies van der Rohe, that has a curved metal frame consisting of a gentle curve that shapes the back and front legs intersecting with a shallow S-shaped curve that shapes the seat and back legs, no arms, and padded leather cushions.
   • 2001, Kimberly Elam, Geometry of Design: Studies in Proportion and Composition:

     The Barcelona Chair was designed in 1929 for the German Pavilion at the International Exhibition in Barcelona, Spain.

   • 2009, Tom Wolfe, From Bauhaus to Our House, page 48:

     The Barcelona chair commanded the staggering price of $550, however, and that was wholesale.

   • 2009, Design Museum Enterprise Limited, Fifty Chairs that Changed the World:

     Marble, travertine, brass and plate glass were deployed to majestic effect, and within the cool, calm interior the Barcelona chairs and accompanying ottomans took on a monumental presence.

   • 2013, Anne Massey, Chair, page 65:

     Following his move to America in 1938, he did not come up with any new furniture designs; the Barcelona chair remains his most famous work.