Natural colour in Mies van der Rohe's Barcelona Pavilion

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31637/epsir-2025-1624

Keywords:

Mies van der Rohe, Barcelona Pavilion, glass, stone, metal, colour, material, light

Abstract

Introduction: The construction of the German Pavilion for the Universal Exhibition in Barcelona in 1929 is a manifesto to the honesty of stone materials linked to Nature. A pavilion whose exhibition object is matter in its primary state. The materials transformed by man are shown as mechanisms used to shape a space in which the traditional materials linked to nature are shown without distortion. Methodology: An empirical study of the different spaces qualified by light and colour is carried out and those that appear in the Pavilion are selected. Results: We can identify several devices that transform the colour of the light, causing the planes of natural material to appear isolated from their surroundings, floating without references. These spatial devices appear linked to the new materials, and specifically glass. Discussion and conclusions: In the interior space, Mediterranean light is controlled through the interrelation of different filtering and diffusion devices. In this way, the materials can offer their splendour under a diffuse and continuous light. The reflection devices inherent in the nature of the materials used make the space infinite, breaking the physical limits and confusing the interior and the exterior.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

Carlos Pesqueira Calvo, Francisco de Vitoria University

PhD in Architecture from the Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Madrid, finalist in the Aguirre Newman/IAZ International Awards for the Architecture Graduation Project.
Guest lecturer in different workshops and schools of Architecture, he belongs to the research groups on Architectural Processes and Urban Strategies: Occasional Architectures and on Innovation and Image Analysis and has participated in several research projects, international congresses and publications of impact.
He teaches Architecture, Design and Fine Arts at the Francisco de Vitoria University, where he is the Editorial Coordinator of the Polytechnic School and a member of the Editorial Committee of the UFV Publishing House.

References

Albers, J. (1974) La interacción del color. Alianza forma.

Bados, A. (2008) Oteiza. Laboratorio experimental. Laborategi esperimentala, Fundación Museo Oteiza Fundazio Museoa. p. 334

Bonta, J. P. (1975) Mies van der Rohe. 1929. Anatomía de la interpretación en arquitectura. Editorial Gustavo Gili.

Colomés, E. (2014) Material, espacio y color en Mies van der Rohe. Café Samt & Seide. Hacia una propuesta estructural (Tesis Doctoral). Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura, Universidad Politécnica, Madrid.

Cruz-Díez, C. (2009) Reflexión sobre el color. Fundación Juan March.

Da Vinci, L. (1986) Tratado de Pintura. Akal.

Daza, R. (2000) Buscando a Mies. Actar Publishers.

Goethe, J. (1999) Teoría de los colores. Colegio Oficial de Arquitectos Técnicos de Murcia, Celeste Ediciones.

Frampton, K. (1986) Prefacio en Spaeth, David, Mies van de Rohe, Gustavo Gili.

Johnson, P. (1953), Mies van der Rohe. Museum of Modern Art.

Malévich, K. (2012) La luz y el color. Ed. Lampreave.

Neumeyer, F. (2000) Mies van der Rohe. La palabra sin artificio. Reflexiones sobre arquitectura 1922-1968. Biblioteca de arquitectura. El Croquis Editorial.

Newton, I. (1977) Óptica o tratado de las reflexiones, refracciones, inflexiones y los colores en la luz. Alfaguara.

Pallasmaa, J. (2006). Los ojos de la piel. Ed. Gustavo Gili.

Pesqueira, C. (2016) El color en la transfiguración del espacio. Un estudio empírico de los dispositivos de transformación y configuración (Tesis Doctoral). Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura, Universidad Politécnica, Madrid.

Quetglas, J. (2011) El horror cristalizado. Imágenes del Pabellón de Alemania de Mies van der Rohe. Actar Publishers.

Sedlmayr, H. (2011) La luz en sus manifestaciones artísticas. Colección La luz y su anverso, director E. de Miguel. Ed. Lampreave.

Scully, S. (2007) Cuerpos de luz. Fundación Juan March. Editorial Arte y Ciencia.

Smithson, A, y P. (2001) Cambiando el arte de habitar. Gustavo Gili.

Tanizaki, J. (1994) El elogio de la sombra. Biblioteca de Ensayo. Ediciones Siruela.

Published

2025-02-19

How to Cite

Pesqueira Calvo, C. (2025). Natural colour in Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona Pavilion. European Public & Social Innovation Review, 10, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.31637/epsir-2025-1624

Issue

Section

Cover articles