An architectural masterpiece built on vaults: Mies & Reich’s Barcelona Pavilion

The German Pavilion at the 1929 Barcelona Exhibition, a benchmark of 20th-century rationalistarchitecture designed by Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich, was built on a plinth made up of seventy tile vaults.This decision, proposed by Joan Bergós, a former disciple of Gaudí’s and, at that time, the site manager for theconstruction company in charge, was approved due to time constraints and implemented without the knowledgeof its two designers. This article analyses the details of this unique episode in the history of the building, asviewed in the context of the tradition of this construction technique in Barcelona in the past, and its use in localArt Nouveau, Noucentista and rationalist architecture. With the aid of previously unpublished data, drawings,and photographs the text sheds light on the construction. The authors also recover the first, now-forgottenattempt from 1970 to reconstruct the German Pavilion by architects Buenaventura Bassegoda Musté and JuanBassegoda Nonell. At the time Joan Bergós acted as chief advisor, and for the sake of historical accuracy, alsocontemplated reproducing the plinth with its original tile vaults.