Mies van der Rohe Pavilion

The building and garden were designed as the German Pavilion for the Barcelona International Exposition of 1929. After the show, it was dismantled. In 1983, it was re-constructed on the same site and using the same materials. It is a prime example of how the principles of abstract, cubist, design can be applied to the integration of outdoor and indoor space. The materials are sheet glass, polished steel, marble, travertine and onyx. Partly because the the stone has a wonderful colour and texture, partly because it is beautifully composed, and partly because of the integration of water and vegetation, the pavilion is vastly more appealing than most modernist-brutalist concrete structures which use related compositional principles.