Mies Van der Rohe and Lilly Reich, BRNO chairs for Knoll

LUDWIG MIES VAN DER ROHE (Germany, 1886 - USA, 1969) and LILLY REICH (Berlin, 1885-1947) for Knoll.
Pair of BRNO chairs, design 1930.
Chrome-plated steel with black leather seat and back.
Manufactured by Knoll.
Patina from use and age.
Measurements: 79 x 58 x 59 cm. Seat height: 46 cm.

The BRNO chairs were designed by Mies Van der Rohe and Lilly Reich (artistic couple who were associated for more than ten years) for the bedroom of the Villa Tugendhat in Brno, Czech Republic. The chair is inspired by earlier creations, such as the MR chairs that Mies van der Rohe created in 1927 (the MR10 chair is the armless model and MR20 the one with arms), applying the "cantilever" (cantilevered) chair concept that Mart Stam had devised a year earlier. In the choice of materials, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe opted for a precious black leather upholstery and the use of flat metal.

Architect and industrial designer, Mies van der Rohe trained with Bruno Paul and Peter Behrens, and opened his own studio in Berlin in 1912. Between 1930 and 1933 he directed the Bauhaus in Dessau, although the political situation in Germany soon after forced him to emigrate to the United States. There he continued his brilliant career, teaching at the Illinois Technology Institute in Chicago. During his career he designed emblematic buildings mainly in Germany and the United States, especially his skyscrapers in New York and Chicago, the German Pavilion for the 1929 Barcelona International Exposition, and the NeueNationalgalerie in Berlin.