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Barcelona Pavilion, Montjuïc · Architecture

The Barcelona Pavilion, the building that existed twice

The Barcelona Pavilion stood for less than a year. Half a century later, it came back.

Checked: true

The story holds up against the record.

Published · checked against 10 sources
Part one · in the video's narrative veo style

The legend says

You're looking at one of the most important buildings of the last century. But months after it opened, it was torn down. So what are you looking at?

Barcelona, 1929. A world fair, and Germany needs a pavilion. Mies van der Rohe designs it to last only as long as the fair.

With Lilly Reich, he tries something new. Thin steel columns carry the roof, walls of glass and stone stand free, and the space flows from inside to out.

Early the next year, the fair is over, and the pavilion is taken apart.

For half a century, it lives only in black-and-white photographs. And gone, it grows into a legend that architects keep coming back to.

Then Barcelona decides to bring it back. The new stone comes from the same places as the old.

And it goes back up on the very same spot.

That's the building you saw at the start.

Today it stands by the Magic Fountain, and you can walk right through it.

This is the story as it is told. We tell it as a story. Below is what the record holds.

But
Part two

The record shows

14 facts, each checked against a source we opened. Tap a source to read the line that carries it.

  1. 01

    Designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich as Germany's pavilion for the 1929 Barcelona International Exposition

    1miesbcn.com, "The Pavilion" (official)
    It was designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich as the German national pavilion for the 1929 Barcelona International Exposition.
    2barcelona.cat (City Council)
    was designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich as Germany’s national pavilion for the 1929 Barcelona International Exposition
    3en.wikipedia.org, "Barcelona Pavilion"
    is a structure designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich. It was originally built as the German Pavilion for the 1929 International Exposition in Barcelona
  2. 02

    Inaugurated on 27 May 1929

    4en.wikipedia.org, "Barcelona Pavilion" (infobox, inauguration date)
    27 May 1929
  3. 03

    Planned as an exhibition pavilion, meant to exist only temporarily

    3en.wikipedia.org, "Barcelona Pavilion"
    Because this was planned as an exhibition pavilion, it was intended to exist only temporarily.
    1miesbcn.com, "The Pavilion" (official)
    After the closure of the Exposition, the Pavilion was disassembled in 1930.
  4. 04

    Its roof is carried by a grid of slender cruciform steel columns

    3en.wikipedia.org, "Barcelona Pavilion"
    a regular grid of cruciform steel columns interspersed by freely spaced planes
    5Texas Tech University Architecture Library archive
    unbroken podium and roof planes were held apart by a regular grid of slender cruciform steel columns
    6studiomatrx.org
    Eight of these columns stand in a regular grid and take the entire weight of the roof.
  5. 05

    Its walls of glass and stone are freely placed between the columns

    5Texas Tech University Architecture Library archive
    using opaque, translucent and transparent walls freely disposed between the columns
    6studiomatrx.org
    Free-standing planes of travertine, green marble, golden onyx and grey glass slip past one another
  6. 06

    Its space is continuous, blurring inside and outside

    3en.wikipedia.org, "Barcelona Pavilion"
    to treat the Pavilion as a continuous space; blurring inside and outside
    6studiomatrx.org
    Interior and exterior interlock; … Space here is not a series of chambers but a continuous, flowing field
  7. 07

    Taken apart in 1930, after the Exposition closed (early 1930), less than a year after it was completed

    1miesbcn.com, "The Pavilion" (official)
    After the closure of the Exposition, the Pavilion was disassembled in 1930.
    2barcelona.cat (City Council)
    The Pavilion was dismantled in 1930, following the end of the Exposition.
    3en.wikipedia.org, "Barcelona Pavilion"
    The building was torn down in early 1930, not even a year after it was completed.
  8. 08

    Until the rebuild, it was known mainly through black-and-white photographs

    7Clare Newton, "The Barcelona Pavilion — Real and Imagined", ACSA 2003
    Until the Pavilion was rebuilt in the eighties, our visual knowledge of the Barcelona Pavilion was obtained primarily through black and white images.
    8barcelonaurbana.com guide
    Between 1930 and 1986, the pavilion existed only in photographs — all in black and white, without human scale, without color.
  9. 09

    After it was taken apart, it became a key point of reference for 20th-century architecture, a legend more than a place

    1miesbcn.com, "The Pavilion" (official)
    After the closure of the Exposition, the Pavilion was disassembled in 1930. As time went by, it became a key point of reference not only in Mies van der Rohe’s own career but also in twentieth-century architecture as a whole.
    6studiomatrx.org
    For half a century Mies's masterpiece existed only in a handful of black-and-white photographs and drawings, a legend more than a place.
  10. 10

    It is a milestone in the history of 20th-century architecture

    9barcelona.cat, capital mundial arquitectura (City Council)
    Over time, it has come to be considered a milestone both in Mies van der Rohe’s career and in the history of 20th-century architecture.
    10barcelona.cat, Barcelona Cultura (City Council)
    This is a central building in the history of 20th century architecture
  11. 11

    The City Council set the rebuild in motion in 1980; work began in 1983 and it opened in 1986

    1miesbcn.com, "The Pavilion" (official)
    In 1980 Oriol Bohigas, as head of the Urban Planning Department at the Barcelona City Council, set the project in motion … Work began in 1983 and the new building was opened on its original site in 1986.
    2barcelona.cat (City Council)
    In 1980, Oriol Bohigas at the Barcelona City Council Office for Urban Planning initiated a project to rebuild the pavilion … Reconstruction work began in 1983 and the new building was officially opened in 1986 on the original site.
  12. 12

    Rebuilt on its original site

    1miesbcn.com, "The Pavilion" (official)
    the new building was opened on its original site in 1986
    2barcelona.cat (City Council)
    the new building was officially opened in 1986 on the original site
  13. 13

    The stones used for the rebuild have the same characteristics and provenance as the 1929 ones

    1miesbcn.com, "The Pavilion" (official)
    all of the same characteristics and provenance as the ones originally employed by Mies in 1929
  14. 14

    It stands next to the Magic Fountain

    10barcelona.cat, Barcelona Cultura (City Council)
    located next to the Magic Fountain

Timeline

On recordTradition only
  1. 1929-05-27InauguratedGermany's pavilion opens at the Barcelona International Exposition, designed by Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich.
  2. 1930Taken apartAfter the Exposition closes, the pavilion is taken apart, less than a year after it was completed.
  3. 1980Rebuild set in motionBarcelona City Council decides to bring the pavilion back.
  4. 1983Work beginsThe rebuild starts on the original site.
  5. 1986Opened againThe pavilion opens again, with stone of the same characteristics and provenance as in 1929.
  6. TodayBy the Magic FountainIt stands next to the Magic Fountain on Montjuïc.

Left out on purpose

What we chose not to say in the video, and why. If a comment says "you forgot…", the answer is probably here.

The parts "shipped back to Germany" and the steel "sold by weight"

One blog only, and sources disagree.

"The walls hold nothing up"

Sources disagree: some wall planes also carry load, so the video says only that the columns carry the roof and the walls stand free.

"Torn down after eight months"

Sources give nine, eight and six months; all agree it opened in 1929 and was gone in early 1930, so the video says "months after it opened".

"The same four stones from the same quarries"

The Foundation says "same characteristics and provenance", not the same quarries, so the video says "the same places as the old".

"Those photographs change architecture anyway"

No source says the photographs caused its fame, or that it mattered more gone than standing; the video says only that it grew into a legend architects keep coming back to.

The rediscovered footings

One source only.

The architects of the rebuild and Oriol Bohigas

Names the story doesn't need.

The King Alfonso XIII reception, the Barcelona chair

Not the story.

The Kolbe statue

A bronze copy today; kept out of frame so no AI-drawn artwork stands in for it.

Ticket prices and "rarely a queue"

Unverified, and prices change.

From DornyxDornyx Stories Interactive history you can live through. Barcelona and beyond.Explore Dornyx Stories →
Read the video's transcript

Leo You're looking at one of the most important buildings of the last century. But months after it opened, it was torn down. So what are you looking at?

Sara Barcelona, 1929. A world fair, and Germany needs a pavilion. Mies van der Rohe designs it to last only as long as the fair.

Leo With Lilly Reich, he tries something new. Thin steel columns carry the roof, walls of glass and stone stand free, and the space flows from inside to out.

Sara Early the next year, the fair is over, and the pavilion is taken apart.

Leo For half a century, it lives only in black-and-white photographs. And gone, it grows into a legend that architects keep coming back to.

Sara Then Barcelona decides to bring it back. The new stone comes from the same places as the old.

Leo And it goes back up on the very same spot.

Sara That's the building you saw at the start.

Sara Today it stands by the Magic Fountain, and you can walk right through it.

Sources

  1. miesbcn.com, "The Pavilion" (official)
  2. barcelona.cat (City Council)
  3. en.wikipedia.org, "Barcelona Pavilion"
  4. en.wikipedia.org, "Barcelona Pavilion" (infobox, inauguration date)
  5. Texas Tech University Architecture Library archive
  6. studiomatrx.org
  7. Clare Newton, "The Barcelona Pavilion — Real and Imagined", ACSA 2003
  8. barcelonaurbana.com guide
  9. barcelona.cat, capital mundial arquitectura (City Council)
  10. barcelona.cat, Barcelona Cultura (City Council)

Found a mistake? Send us your source. If it holds, we correct this page and note the change here.