Barcelona Chair

Designed by Mies Van der Rohe and his long time partner and companion Lilly Reich the Barcelona chair is mostly misattributed to Mies alone. It is perhaps difficult to comprehend today, but this icon of modernist style was actually designed in 1928. The chair was created as furnishing for one of Mies's many architectural jewels: The German Pavilion building at the Barcelona World Fair 1929. The twenty years leading up to the 1928 Barcelona Exhibition were a time of tremendous upheaval for all of Europe. Politically the landscape was changing faster and more dramatically than anyone could ever have imagined: Monarchies fell, revolutions raged, huge numbers of people were migrating from the Eastern block into Western Europe. Accelerating change and diversity propelled the fields of design and technology to reinvent themselves, almost entirely. Huge cultural shifts rocked Europe producing an explosion of artistic and literary creativity. For more information go to the Barcelona Chair Site.

Eero Saarinen

Eero Saarinen (1910-1961)An appreciation of the arts was instilled in Eero Saarinen at an early age. Born in Finland in 1910, Saarinen’s family immigrated to the United States when he was thirteen years old. His father was a famous architect who designed and taught at the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan, while his mother was a sculptor, photographer and weaver. Saarinen grew up within the community of the Cranbrook Academy, studying under his father as well as taking courses in sculpture and furniture design. It was here that Saarinen formed close relationships with fellow students Charles and Ray Eames and Florence Schust Knoll. Saarinen went on to study architecture at Yale, completing his studies in 1934; he then joined his father’s firm and became an instructor at Cranbrook. He began working with Charles and Ray Eames in the 1940s on a variety of furniture projects, as the designers shared a passion for organic shapes and cutting-edge materials, like plastics and plywood laminates. Eero Saarinen is perhaps best known as one of the most important post-war architects, although he did receive recognition for his furniture designs, most notably his “Tulip” and “Womb” chairs.

Ettore Sottsass

ETTORE SOTTSASS (1917-2007) was a grandee of late 20th century Italian design. Best known as the founder of the early 1980s Memphis collective, he also designed iconic electronic products for Olivetti, as well as beautiful glass and ceramics. For more go to the Design Museum.