The Barcelona Pavilion, designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, was the German Pavilion for the 1929 International Exposition in Barcelona, Spain. This building was used for the official opening of the German section of the exhibition. It was an important building in the history of modern architecture, known for its simple form and extravagant materials, such as marble and travertine.

In 1928 Ludwig Mies van der Rohe built the German pavilion for the 1929 International Exhibition in Barcelona, held on the Montjuïc. In the 1920s Germany was a trendsetter in international architecture with Mies van der Rohe at the forefront. His revolutionary modern design influenced many other architects throughout the 20th century.

Mies's response to the proposal by von Schnitzler was radical. After rejecting the original site because of aesthetic reasons, Mies agreed to a quiet site at the narrow side of a wide, diagonal axis, where the pavilion would still offer viewpoints and a route leading to one of the exhibition's main attractions, the "Spanish Village".

The pavilion was going to be bare—no trade exhibits—just the structure, a single sculpture and purpose-designed furniture (the Barcelona Chair). This lack of accommodation enabled Mies to treat the Pavilion as a continuous space; blurring inside and outside. "The design was predicated on an absolute distinction between structure and enclosure—a regular grid of cruciform steel columns interspersed by freely spaced planes".

However, the structure was more of a hybrid style, some of these planes also acted as supports. The floor plan is very simple. The entire building rests on a plinth of travertine. A southern U-shaped enclosure, also of travertine, helps form a service annex and a large water basin. The floor slabs of the pavilion project out and over the pool—once again connecting inside and out. Another U-shaped wall on the opposite side of the site also forms a smaller water basin. This is where the statue by Georg Kolbe sits. The roof plates, relatively small, are supported by the chrome-clad, cruciform columns. This gives the impression of a hovering roof. Robin Evans said that the reflective columns appear to be struggling to hold the "floating" roof plane down, not to be bearing its weight.

Mies wanted this building to become "an ideal zone of tranquillity" for the weary visitor, who should be invited into the pavilion on the way to the next attraction. Since the pavilion lacked a real exhibition space, the building itself was to become the exhibit. The pavilion was designed to "block" any passage through the site, rather, one would have to go through the building. Visitors would enter by going up a few stairs, and due to the slightly sloped site, would leave at ground level in the direction of the "Spanish Village". The visitors were not meant to be led in a straight line through the building, but to take continuous turnabouts. The walls not only created space, but also directed visitor's movements. This was achieved by wall surfaces being displaced against each other, running past each other, and creating a space that became narrower or wider.

Another unique feature of this building is the exotic materials Mies chooses to use. Plates of high-grade stone materials like veneers of Tinos verde antico marble and golden onyx as well as tinted glass of grey, green, white, as well as translucent glass, perform exclusively as spatial dividers.

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. However, thanks to black-and-white photos and original plans, a group of Spanish architects reconstructed the pavilion permanently between 1983 and 1986.

The structure was made of glass, travertine, steel and several kinds of marble (green marble, alpine marble and golden onyx). On a travertine podium asymmetrically installed plates of glass and polished marble define different areas that seem to flow into one another. The pavilion is covered by a thin flat roof.

A pool reflects the walls and roof, reinforcing the image of a confusing mix of horizontal and vertical planes. Only the statue in the pool breaks these geometric lines. The statue of a woman is a bronze replica of a piece created by Georg Kolbe. It is known by a number of names, the most common used is 'Alba' or 'Dawn'.

Mies van der Rohe also designed stools and chairs specifically for the pavilion. The classic 'Barcelona chair' became an icon of 20th century design; it is still manufactured today. The chairs and stools in the pavilion are replicas, the originals got lost when the pavilion was disassembled in 1930.

There were no exhibits held in the pavilion; it had no real purpose other than accommodating the opening reception of the German part of the exhibition on May 26, 1929. After the closure of the exhibition the German government was unable to sell the pavilion so it was disassembled and the material was sold to cover some of the cost. It was only later, during the 1960s, that architects and critics started to recognize the architectural value of the pavilion, calling for the landmark to be rebuilt.

Two decades later, in 1981, a group of architects lead by Oriol Bohigas, head of the urban development department of Barcelona, started the reconstruction. The architects had to overcome several obstacles as there were no color photographs of the original pavilion and - even though the material used was durable - the structure was only designed to have a temporary character. The pavilion, built on exactly the same site and with the same marble originally used by Mies van der Rohe, was completed in 1986.

This emblematic work of modern architecture is now an absolute must-visit for anyone interested in architecture. Inside the pavilion you will also see George Kolbe's 'Alba' statue and a replica of Mies van der Rohe's famous Barcelona chair.

In 1930 Mies van der Rohe became director of the Bauhaus. This art and architecture school had a major impact on western architecture. The Bauhaus was closed by the Nazis in 1933 and Mies van der Rohe moved to the United States where he would build modern landmarks like the 860-880 Lake Shore Drive Apartments in Chicago and the Seagram Building in New York.

The Barcelona Pavilion isn’t the most notable sight in Barcelona. Despite that fact, lots of people are attracted by its architectural value. Almost every tour guide of the city offers information about the architectural sights in the city worth to be seen. The Pavilion is one of them, no matter if you have such interest or just want to take a look, see some modern art and take pictures. The pavilion is close to the magic fountain in the 1929 exhibition complex, which is a short walk down Avinguda de la Reina Maria Cristina from the Placa d'Espanya. Metro lines 1 and 3 to Espanya station. The pavilion is open to the public daily between 10am and 8pm. You can get there via direct flight to Barcelona or to Girona, Reus or Lleida –Alguaire.