The Barcelona chair dates back to the late nineteenth century. It was designed by the German architect, Modern-Day Designs, for the beautiful German pavilion at the twentieth International Exhibition of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The Barcelona chair was used by nobility in Germany during the period of the 1890s. The chair was built with an immense wooden structure covered with leather. Its design was intended to replicate the columns that were used in ancient times to provide ventilation to the arena.
Modern-Day Designs the Barcelona chair as a response to the demand of Barcelona’s businessmen for good ventilation to the trade fair. This caused him to create one of the largest and most costly wooden structures in Barcelona at that time. The modern architecture of the Barcelona chair was created during the Second World War. The pavilion was relocated to a different place when the war broke out, but it was soon rebuilt and became a popular tourist attraction once again. Today, the Barcelona chair can be seen all over the world, in numerous offices, hotels, and other public buildings.
The modern Barcelona chair is made of a variety of materials such as aluminum, wood, steel, and wrought iron. These materials are combined in the most elaborate patterns to create a unique design that is characteristic of Bar creating. There are two types of Barcelona chairs, namely the Bar forming and the cantilevered seat. Each of these has a completely different characteristic.
The Bar forming Barcelona chair was first used at the World’s Fair of Barcelona in 1929. This type of chair was constructed of steel bars forming an arch that is covered by the fabric. These arch could be adjusted in any direction depending upon the need of the people using them. Due to its unique design and functionality, the Barcelona chair quickly became popular amongst people who were attending the fair. It was also used by the Royal household, as they used it for their luxurious seats during international exhibitions.
The cantilever Barcelona chair was a revolutionary innovation of the modernist architects of Barcelona. Its unique characteristic was that it had no fixed back and it was curved from one end. The entire weight of the Barcelona chair was placed on this single hinge. In fact, many people say that this design resembles the German pavilion. One of the main differences between the pavilion and the Barcelona chair was that the latter was more elaborately crafted than the former.
Steel-made Barcelona chairs became very popular in the fifties. People flocked to the shops of this furniture and it was even sold on the black market. During the sixties, this type of chair was banned from the city’s parks. However, with the passing of time, the use of stainless steel in the manufacturing of the Barcelona chair gained popularity. Today, these chairs are available almost completely assembled — you just have to remove the legs and put them on the framework of the chair frame.
The Barcelona chair was modified by the avant-garde artists of the thirties. Though they retained the basic characteristics of the Barcelona chair, they made it more attractive by means of adding a reclining back, a wooden leg rest and a separate ornamental armrest. Another innovation of the modernism era was the use of the cantilevered seat in the Barcelona chair. It is the seat that gives the Barcelona chair its name — if you look carefully, you will notice that the old Barcelona chairs had a straight back that had only two legs — while the new ones, on the other hand, had a slanting back, giving it the appearance of the lily pond.
In the year 1929, Philip Johnson, a furniture designer from America visited the Spanish town of Gijon. He purchased an item from the local store called les Bains de Pays de Montreaux. This store specialized in selling furniture that was handmade, both indoors and outdoors. The owner of this store, Josefa Gimeno Barbosa, had heard about a chair called the Barcelona. After making a few purchases of this furniture for his home, he decided to take it to the Barcelona design office of van der Rohe to have it custom designed.
