The Barcelona Pavilion Essay

The German Pavilion, later known as the Barcelona Pavilion, gently hovers above the ground on a low raised platform, in Barcelona Spain. Recognized as the one of the initial expressions of Germany taking a step towards representing themselves in a more modern approach. the German Pavilion was the face of Germany after the first world war as an act of departure and resistance against classically fixed Germany. Commissioned by the German Reich’s government, for the installation hosting of King Alfonoso XIII and German officials, the Pavilion was a rare project for which Meis Van De Rohe was provided no brief nor concept to follow, easily becoming one of his more challenging works confronted.
Designed in the year 1929 the Barcelona Pavilion was the bridge of modern minimalist buildings and structures . It was the beginning of a new tradition acknowledging

simplicity 3.

Figure 2 Brick County house elevation and plan view Figure 3 Barcelona Pavilion plan view
The Barcelona Pavilion was built as a freeform structure with no particular purpose other than to represent Germany at the Barcelona exhibition. Although there was no functional program determined or even a mention of a influence for its appearance it is apparent that the De Stijl movement that had begun in 1917 swayed Mies designs at that time. This influence is evident in one of his ealier works ‘The Brick Country House’ which was designed in 1923 but never built. The layout resembles that of the German Pavilion in the way the walls flow into each other without clear definition of their boundaries or their separation from the exterior2. The open free flowing space and translucent planes make the building more relaxing and visually soothing to the environment. One critic commented that "the viewer could walk more or less endlessly, without ever being stopped in a cubical area", adding to that the open plan gave an "intimation of infinite freedom of movement"

Originally the German Pavilion was placed in an artificially landscaped setting. This park siting continued the tradition of Karl Friedrich Schinkel’s landscaped “neo-Greek” “temples” and private houses from the early 19th century5. Mies also translated the classicism of Karl’s buildings into ferro-concrete, tinted plate glass, and chrome-plated steel6. These ideas were then carried out for the Barcelona Pavilion and the formulation of the new architectural principles were achieved within this. In the Barcelona Pavilion Mies experimented with glass works and light reflections on a glass model . This then allowed the building to have more of a translucent look then solid .

The idea of a sleek flat roof was also carried out onto both the projects. The large generous canopy roof which is rested on walls that are placed asymmetrically but always parallel or perpendicular. Thus they appear to slide past each other in a space through which the viewer can walk more or less endlessly without ever having to stop within a cubical area. The Pavilion utilizes brushed steel posts and partition walls of travertine, onyx, and glass. Within the original design there were eight cruciform columns that were meant to hold up the roof which appears to float over both the interior as well as the exterior . how ever they were not enough for support and extra columns were lodged into the double skinned marble screens to help carry the load and keep the original plan inviolate. The Pavilion consists of two pools, one of which is located directly behind the interior space which allows the light to filter through the interior space while illuminating the marble and travertine pavers. Like the Glass Room and the Friedrichstarsse skyscraper, the Barcelona Pavilion is amongst one of Mies experimental projects exploring the potential of materials. The strict separation of supports and walls as well the use of large expanses of glass for the exterior walls led Mies to such a degree of perfection that this was virtually unchanged onto most of his later buildings and anticipates his preference for steel and glass.
In the History of modern architecture the Barcelona Pavilion was looked upon as an icon for the 20th century.

Every aspect of the Barcelona Pavilion has architectural significance that can be seen however, one of the more important aspects is the low profiled roof. In elevation the roof appears to be floating above the interior space. Barcelona Pavilion was intended to glorify post-war german society while progressively embracing modern architecture . At the Barcelona Pavilion one is struck by the ambiguities of onyx melting into the semi transparent glass. This was a display of modern movement to the world. Its elegant and sleek design combined with rich natural material presented Mies Barcelona Pavilion as a bridge for this future career. In 1924 Mies had already argued that modern architecture should go beyond the rational and economic fulfillment of functions to create architecture as art. This was the first time that Mies publicly linked beauty to the pursuit of truth. Through this it becomes clearer to see that Mies had more of the truly classical in him at this level of idea, proportion, and

detail.
Looking through Mies work, is it evident that movement towards modernism started in 1921 when he designed for the Fiedrichstrasse building, the Brick Country house and also carried it onto Weissenhofsiedlung. However it wasn't until his work on the Barcelona Pavilion that the modernist movement was seen through the eyes of the architectural world. Not only was the Pavilion an icon for the whole of the 20th century, it was a new era and inspiration for Mies and his future designs. He used this concept of the Barcelona Pavilion in the residential Tugendhat House built in 1930 . The same regular grid and cruciform columns were used. The polished marbled onyx walls were used to define interior spaces in an open plan. Extensive glass was also incorporated into the design alongside rear tropical wood and reinforced concrete. The cruciform-shaped columns were also repeated and behind the dining room a double glass partition serves as a light source for the interior spaces, similar to that which was seen in the Barcelona design.
Another building that was evidently influenced by the Barcelona Pavilion was the Farnsworth House, just outside of Chicago. It was built between 1945 and 1951 for a weekend treat for Dr Edith Farnsworth. Similar to the Barcelona Pavilion, the Farnsworth house also stood on a podium like structure. Being elevated off the ground and framing into view only what Mies wished to. Again an extensive amount of floor to ceiling windows were implanted all around the house. A flat floating roof which extended beyond interior spaces was used along with another set of eight cruciform columns. Although not all materials used in the Barcelona Pavilion is seen in The Farnsworth House, it is still very clear how much of an influence the Pavilion had. the concept was taken from the Pavilion, he then expanded and altered it to desire to suit the needs of the client a environmental beauty.
Throughout his career Mies van der Rohe had done some great work. The Barcelona Pavilion wouldn't be considered his best and certainly wasn't his first but is was very significant due to its nature. The Barcelona Pavilion was a form of architecture that needed to represent Germany and be the voice of its new era.
Unlike Mies other designs, for the Pavilion he had no clue as to what it was he was designing for even though he had free form over the whole design, on the other hand he did have a clue as to what materialistic he wanted to explore . the Barcelona Pavilion though only stood for a year before being dismantled and shipped off held great significance to Mies and also the history of architecture in the 20th century . Although it wasn't untill after 1969 when Mies died that world realized its importance. in 1980 the Barcelona City Council decided that they would reconstruct the structure accordingly to its original design. Work for the reconstruction began in 1983 and was finished 1986. The reconstruction however did have some minor changes from its orginal design, for instance not the exact materialistic were used nevertheless a great deal of effort was made to reconstruct to its originality as much as possible. The Barcelona Pavilion still stands now in the city of Barcelona and is open to the public for viewing.