Mies van der Rohe: Designer Chair Par Excellance

Mies van der Rohe was born in 1886 in Aachen, Germany. Without any formal training he was allowed to apprentice under furniture designer Bruno Paul. Among his accomplishments as a designer, he too was an architect and built many building that are quite popular today. Some of his designs that are still quite popular today include the Barcelona Chair, the Tugendhat chair and the Brno Chair. His concern with theoretical concepts, image clarification, and attention to detail has left a lasting impact on designers.

The Barcelona chair was designed in 1929 exclusively for the Barcelona World Fair and was a collaboration of both Mies’s and Lilly Reich. Its design was a futuristic inspiration to the campaign chair of the Romans and the folding chairs of the Pharaohs. The original design of the frame was to be bolted together, but in 1950 Mies redesigned the chair using stainless steel and formed it from a single piece rather than needing it to be bolted together. The original design also called for expensive ivory colored pigskin, but it this covering has been replaced with bovine leather. The design went into commercial use in 1975, six years after Mies’s death. He had the foresight to license the reproduction rights to Knoll, whom also carries the trademark of the chair.

The Brno chair was designed in 1930 and is a cantilever chair. The cantilever chair has no back legs and its support and strength comes from the design as well as the materials that is used to make it. This style of chair gives truth to the phrase that it is only as strong as the material from which it comes. The frame of the Brno chair is made of a single piece of steel that is bent into a C-shape from the middle of the back, continuing around past the front edge to create the arms and continuing back under the seat. The seat and back are upholstered in leather. Two versions of the chair are produced now, one with a frame made of tubular steel and another that the frame is made from flat steel.

The Tugendhat chair is another cantilever design. This chair is a sort of hybrid of the Barcelona chair and the Brno chair. It is like the Barcelona chair in that it has a large, padded leather seat and back support that is supported by leather straps attached to the steel frame. It is like the Brno chair in that the frame is composed of flat, solid steel. Today, versions exist with padded steel arms or without padded arms, depending on the style that the consumer prefers.

Mies van der Rohe was a very renowned furniture designer and architect. He left his touch on many things and many of his works can still be seen today. The furniture that he produced consisted of a classic modern look, allowing it to be sought after by consumers. The furniture is now produced in different versions making it appeal to an even larger consumer public.

Zack Fair writes for a Contemporary Furniture online store Amode.co.uk based in the UK specializing in the production of
designer furniture, chairs, Eames chairs, and Arne Jacobsen chairs. Get modern leather sofas now at Amode's Contemporary Furniture Online Store.