Lilly Reich Essay

Introduction

In this essay I will endeavour to talk about Lilly Reich. She has designed numerous pieces of furniture and also designed interiors of various buildings such as the German Pavilion in collaboration with Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe. I intend to examine the work of this designer closely, and outline the influences on this work, and the impact which it had in a wider setting. One particular piece which I find to be particularly noteworthy is the Barcelona Chair. I will discuss this piece in detail and its construction technique, the materials used, how the style of this piece depicts the particular period in which it was designed, and how this piece represents and identifies Lilly Reich’s work.

Biography of Lilly Reich

Lilly Reich, a modernist designer, was born on the 16th of June 1885 in the city of Berlin, Germany. Reich worked in a close collaboration with Ludwig Mies

These pieces were bolted, chrome-plated and had ivory colour pigskin seat mats and back rests.

1931 – 1932 was the year when the design was improved. Changes in construction were applied, with no alteration to the original design. One of the improvements was to move connection points inwards, in order to increase the stability and durability of the chair. In 1945 (1947) Knoll began to manufacture the chair. Although there has been an attempt to use aluminium, due a lot of problems arising with the material change, chrome-plating was used in its place. Metal-worker Jerry Griffith, was the first one to produce this chair using stainless-steel. This material provided durability. This particular stainless-steel model was used for Mies’s buildings in Chicago. In 1964 Knoll began producing Barcelona chairs using stainless steel. During the 1970’s, bronze-plated designs were introduced to the market. (Design Deconstructed… 2018)

Reflection on design