Of Mies and men
EBR Public Library has kept four chairs in a style that is still desired nearly 100 years after they were designed.
Some people hunt curios at flea markets. Baton Rouge's main library houses four remarkable treasures of its own.
Tucked in two offices and a corner niche are Barcelona chairs circa 1980, bought for the city's old downtown library, a John Desmond-designed Brutalist slab since replaced by a modern branch.
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich styled the chairs for the German Pavilion at Barcelona's 1929 International Exposition. Knoll won exclusive rights to reproduce them in 1953 and still does.
They remain icons of modern design.
Sitting down in one is easy. Getting back up takes the agility of an LSU gymnast.
Mary Stein, the library's assistant director, says the chairs need reupholstering. But the wait for that kind of work in Baton Rouge runs nearly as long as the chairs are low.
A new Barcelona chair can cost up to $10,000. But they are not for sale. Consider them permanently checked out.
