The Original Design. Every Barcelona Chair is built to Mies van der Rohe’s exacting standards.

One of the most recognized objects of the last century, and an icon of the modern movement, the Barcelona Chair exudes a simple elegance that epitomizes Mies van der Rohe's most famous maxim–“less is more.” Each Barcelona piece is a tribute to the marriage of modern design and exceptional craftsmanship.

Details
  • Category
    Office Chairs
  • Range
    MillerKnoll
  • Brand
    Knoll
  • Designer
    Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
Specifications

Dimensions: W750 x D770 x H770 x SH430mm

Frame: Frame is polished chrome hand-ground and hand-buffed to a mirror finish. Upholstery straps attached with aluminum rivets.

Finish: Upholstered with 40 individual panels. Individual panels are cut, hand-welted, and hand-tufted with leather buttons produced from a single cowhide. Cushions are premium quality, highly resilient urethane foam with down-like dacron polyester fiberfill. Upholstery straps are cowhide belting leather. Sides are dyed to match specified upholstery color. 17 straps are used for cushion support.

Detail: The KnollStudio logo and signature of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe are stamped into the leg

Hand-welted. Hand-tufted. Hand-polished. Handmade.

Design Story

As a rising figure of the modernist movement, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe was selected to design the German Pavilion for the 1929 International Exposition in Barcelona. Through masterful proportioning and planning, Mies created a rhythmic and entirely unprecedented space, which elevated industrial-age materials to a level of grace never before achieved. Inside, Mies included chairs and stools conceived as a resting place for the King and Queen of Spain. Determined to create a chair worthy of royalty, Mies is thought to have based the designs, with their signature crisscross frames, on the campaign chairs of Ancient Rome. Mies: “I feel that it must be possible to harmonize the old and new in our civilization.” Although the Barcelona Pavilion only stood for seven months, it is recognized as a defining achievement of modern architecture, as are the accompanying Barcelona Chairs (although the King and Queen reportedly never sat in them).

Mies, a close friend and mentor to Florence Knoll during her time at the Illinois Institute of Technology, formally granted Knoll the production rights to the Barcelona Chair and Stool in 1953. The designs immediately became a signature of the Knoll brand and have been built to Mies van der Rohe’s exacting standards ever since.

Unison Workspaces
Auckland
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About the
Seller

Unison is recognised as one of New Zealand market’s leading quality providers of interior commercial furniture and lighting.

Our aim is to provide design led, future proofed, quality, commercial products from world renown suppliers; to help customers create healthy, fun, collaborative, flexible and engaging environments.

We aim to help businesses create a workplace which will:

  • Enhance the wellbeing and health of the workforce
  • Attract and retain top employees
  • Enhance collaboration, innovation and productivity
  • Improve bottom line performance

We view the workplace as an “evolution” and never a one-time event, and recognise the importance of offering flexible quality solutions within a range of products and services, allowing our customer’s investment to evolve along with their business strategy.

With over 25 years of experience in the field and access to the world’s leading products, the team behind Unison bring with them the skills, knowledge and passion to help create spaces that drive productivity and long-term value.  Unison works in partnership with you on every aspect of your project from planning through to specifying, delivery and after sales support.

We’ve worked with businesses of all sizes and their A&D firms to understand, plan, design, develop, and build great workplaces.

And we recognise the importance of providing exceptional customer service so at we are focused on operational excellence and an enhanced customer experience.

“Research confirms what we know from common sense: a happy and healthy workplace leads to contented, productive staff, improved attraction and retention, stronger financial performance, faster growth, and an effective competitive edge”.

In Unison with Suppliers

Unison has exclusive distribution agreements in New Zealand with a range of world-leading international furniture manufacturers, so we can provide businesses with the right furnishing solution that best fits their needs.

The team at Unison have many years of experience working with leading suppliers, both locally and internationally.  From international manufacturers such as Herman Miller, Walter Knoll, Palau, Howe, Segis, Billiani and Muuto, through to local custom manufacturing solutions.

These manufacturers specialise in their respective niches and produce the best options available in the market, this includes:

Herman Miller – workstations, ergonomic seating, meeting room tables, classic designs – Eames, Nelson.

Walter Knoll – extensive soft-seating range German designed but manufactured in Australia.

Muuto - affordable luxury - a complete collection of Scandinavian furniture and lighting

Palau – World leading manufacturer of collaborative solutions and acoustic booths..

Howe – famous 40/4 chair and elegant demountable boardroom room tables

Segis and Billiani   – all offer collections of beautifully designed mixed material products for café and contract spaces.