Mies van der Rohe, less is more

Mies van der Rohe (1886-1969) coined the phrase that defines modernity. A German architect, last director of the Bauhaus before his exile to the United States, he designed in 1929 for the German pavilion at the Barcelona exhibition a chair that had never existed before: the Barcelona Chair. Hand-tufted leather, polished chromed steel scissor-shaped frame, absolute proportions. Alongside the Brno armchair and the MR chair, it forms the triptych by which Mies brought seating into modern architecture. Edited since 1948 by Knoll.