In the modern age, minimalism may be defined as a concept of high clarity and constancy between interacting spaces. In correlation to his thesis "less is more", Mies van der Rohe created a very fitting example for this kind of style, the famous "Barcelona Pavillon", which was constructed for the world exhibition in 1929. At first, there are two main rules, Mies used for this building:
1st: open floorplan
2nd: concept of floating spaces
These two aspects create a clear structure of the building, which is although combined with several different spaces. It's not just a simple addition of certain types of rooms but one common, integral system.
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| Barcelona Pavillon, Mies van der Rohe, 1929 |
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| Barcelona Pavillon, Stamp, Deutsche Bundespost, 1987 |
Complexity
Besides, the pavillon is constructed in a way, that roof and wall paneels are just defining boundaries of spaces and are not completely enclosing the building. There are just paneels and columns as most simple means of construction. The buildings appearance seems to be very clean and simple, but behind this obvious simplicity, there is a way deeper and more complex background, in this case the very complex creation of spaces. Again, there is another connection to Mies van der Rohes quote "less is more", which here incorporates accomplishing a building on a very high standard with very basic means of construction.
Interior - Exterior
Another very important point is the concept of interacting spaces. As mentioned before, the wall and roof paneels are just creating the boundaries of different spaces. Besides, there is a strong connection between interior and exterior spaces in the Barcelona Pavillon, both seem to float into each other. The line between inside and outside blurs and creates a kind of dialogue of transparency. This is another example for the subtle complexity underneath the obvious simplicity and minimalism of this famous building.
Sources:
Complejidad, Flash, Beatriz Díaz-Guerra, 04/11/2013
Interior-Exterior, Flash, Mònica Tió, 03/11/2013
Barcelona Pavillon, Stamp, Deutsche Bundespost, Prof. Bruno K. Wies, 05/05/1987
Barcelona Pavillon, Photography, bauhaus-online.de, 10/11/2013
