Barcelona Stool

Overview

The Barcelona® Stool (model 251Y) is the low companion to the Barcelona Chair. Knoll dates it to 1929 and presents it as an icon of the modern movement. Upholstery comes in leather, suede or fabric, and the crisscross frame in three finishes.

Construction

• Cushion built from 16 squares that are cut, welted and button-tufted by hand; the leather ones are taken from one cowhide
• Seven belting leather straps, with dyed edges, hold the cushion on the frame
• Frame in mirror-buffed chrome-plated steel, in 304 stainless steel, or in steel with a matte onyx finish
• Standard or relaxed cushion fill

Specifications

• W 25" × D 23¼" × H 14¾" (635 × 591 × 375 mm); seat height 14¾"
• The stool with a cowhide sling is listed at W 21½" × D 23" × H 12¼"
• Weight 28 lb; comes fully assembled

The stool in the pavilion

Knoll's page for the stool links its simple elegance and graceful profile to Mies's maxim that less is more. The design-plan heading dates it to 1929, and the shop states that Mies created the Barcelona Collection for his 1929 German Pavilion at the International Exhibition in Barcelona.

A second stool with a cowhide sling

Alongside the upholstered stool, Knoll's page lists a Barcelona Stool with a cowhide sling, drawn smaller than the upholstered one: 21½ in wide, 23 in deep and 12¼ in high.