The German Pavilion, the brainchild of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe in 1929, holds a monumental significance. Commissioned in 1928, Mies engineered the structure within a mere year for the International Exposition in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, specifically intended for the German section of the exhibition.
It was intended to represent the new Weimar Germany: democratic, culturally progressive, prospering, and thoroughly pacifist. The German Republic entrusted Mies with the artistic management and erection of not only the Barcelona Pavilion, but for the buildings for all the German sections at the 1929 International Exhibition. The Commissioner, Georg von Schnitzler, said it should give "voice to the spirit of a new era". The pavilion was to be bare, with no exhibits, leaving only the structure accompanying a single sculpture and specially designed furniture.
Because this was planned as an exhibition pavilion, it was intended to exist only temporarily. The building was torn down in early 1930, not even a year after it was completed. Between 1983 and 1986, a group of Catalan architects formed the Mies van der Rohe Foundation and reconstructed the pavilion permanently, based on historical drawings and rediscovered footings on the site.
The German Pavilion in Barcelona marked a pivotal point in modernist architecture, influencing numerous structures that followed.
Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons
Written by Nicolo Ciampini
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