Although they were built for two completely different purposes and are located almost 1,600 kilometers apart, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona Pavilion in Spain and the Villa Tugendhat in Brno, Czech Republic, bear striking similarities.
Both buildings were constructed at about the same time (1929 and 1930 respectively); both were designed in close collaboration with the architect and interior designer. Lilly Reich; and both are widely regarded as groundbreaking prototypes of modernist design with their open floor plans, mix of industrial yet refined materials and general “less is more” ethos.
A view of the Villa Tugendhat.
As with all of van der Rohe and Reich’s projects, the interior design was thought through with as much care as the architecture. For the Barcelona Pavilion, this method produced, among other things, the Barcelona Chair, a lounge seat that has been a design icon for nearly a century. For the Villa Tugendhat, van der Rohe designed similarly thoughtful pieces, most notably the Tugendhat Chair.
Unlike its famous Spanish cousin, however, the Tugendhat chair has been discontinued – at least until now. Knoll has just announced the reintroduction of the Tugendhat, breathing new life into a popular chair with a storied past.
Van der Rohe designed the original Villa Tugendhat for married couple Fritz and Grete in Brno, a small town in what is now the Czech Republic. The couple came from wealthy families. Grete knew van der Rohe’s work from the time she spent in the house he designed for art historian Eduard Fuchs and contacted him when the duo put down roots in Brno.
The newly released chair, on site at Villa Tugendhat.
Inspired by the house’s hillside location, van der Rohe and Reich created a new paradigm of modern architecture. Indoor and outdoor spaces flowed seamlessly into one another, glass walls created a sense of openness, while materials such as onyx, travertine and Makassar ebony conveyed a feeling of quiet splendor. This architectural approach was naturally reflected in the Tugendhat chair. “The dramatic cantilevers of the horizontal surfaces are reflected both in the villa’s hillside location and in the chair’s base,” adds Iveta Černá, director of Villa Tugendhat.
The chair is being re-introduced in a variety of upholstery options, including a bright red.
The new edition of the Tugendhat chair remains completely faithful to those first editions, adhering to the original sketches with “exact precision,” according to Jonathan Olivares, senior vice president of design at Knoll. “Rohe’s work is full of verve, elegance and technical precision,” he adds. “These qualities never get boring.”
Anyone who wants to grab one of the coveted chairs can now do so via the Knoll website. The color selection ranges from neutral colors such as brown and black to bolder tones such as yellow and red.
“All the armchairs from the villa are real design icons,” adds Černá. “I am firmly convinced that the reintroduction will soon achieve a similar reputation to the Barcelona armchair.”
Helena Madden is Market Editor at ELLE DECOR and covers all product and trend topics, from cutlery and furniture to kitchen and bathroom. She previously worked as an editor at Robb Report, where she reported on luxury news with a focus on interior design.
