The Barcelona chair is the grandaddy of all lounge chairs, the godfather if you will.
Designed by Mies van der Rohe in colloboration with Lily Reich , for the World Expo in 1929, it’s sleek silver silouhuette with the iconic plush padded seats are an inspiration to creative designers even today, 78 years after its conception. It has come to the point where it is no longer considered furniture, it is the piece de resistance of the early 20th century, a piece of Art if you will.

The chair is a piece of commercial bistro furniture found only in the finest gentlemen clubs due to the high price and cost of materials. Suspended steel is welded and finished by buffing to achieve that seamless stainless steel frames that draws the eye. The full leather cushions are hand sewed and required a skilled worksmen twenty eight hours to finish. With such a high time costs, is it any wonder that it is priced at $9,100 for the finest stainless steel version.

In my humble opinion, this is money well spent. How else can you get to own a piece of history, the piece of art which shook the design world, something which architects and creatives skimp on meals to own even today. To label the Barcelona chair , a piece of commercial bistro furniture as I have above might seem sacrilegious but it is with great respect that I do so. Commercial furniture is defined as furniture that are made to last, they are made with better materials and with skilled workmanship. That is the essence of the Barcelona chair and that is what I hope it’ll remain, an iconic piece of qualiy and design that will endure throughout the ages.