The Unsung Heroine
There is a saying, and I'm paraphrasing here, that behind every great man, stands an
even greater woman. Yes, I know it's antiquated, sexist and a little misogynistic, but it fits the woman who is the subject of today's post.
Lilly Reich was a modernist designer who flourished in those heady days of the German
progressive movement from 1910 to the 1930s. She became a member of a government organization called the Deutsche Werkbund, which promoted German products and design in exhibitions Lilly created. She eventually opened her own studio and became the first female director of the Werkbund in 1920.
via flickr; Barcelona Pavilion interior with Barcelona (Exhibiton) chair and stool, 1929, Mies van der Rohe and
Lilly Reich, T.SC via flickr /Artwork: designslinger]
In 1925 she met up-and-coming architect, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. It was a match
made in design heaven. Lilly joined Mies' firm, and their first public collaboration was on an exhibition room known as the "Wohnraum in Spiegelglas," for the 1927 Werkbund Exhibition in Stuttgart. The furniture, the high gloss linoleum flooring, the huge sheets of tinted glass, along with the sleek, chrome structural members, became the forerunners of the Barcelona Pavilion.
By 1928, Lilly was well connected, well known, and a respected member of the German
design community, so she was put in charge of organizing the German exhibition at the World Exposition, to be held in Barcelona in 1929. It should therefore be no surprise that the architect chosen to design the exhibit building was none other than Mies van der Rohe. I'm not suggesting that he wasn't up to the task, nor that he wasn't as well known and respected as Lilly, but having Lilly as his partner, not only in the architectural practice but in his personal life, couldn't hurt.
If you are a student of architecture and design, a novice, or a casual observer, you may
know about the Pavilion. The structure rocked the design world to its core, and one of the most recognized pieces of furniture in history, the Barcelona (or Exhibition) chair resulted from their collaboration. Unfortunately, Lilly got lost in the all the accolades of praise directed at Mies, and there was no looking back. She retreated into the dust of history although she continued to partner with Mies until he left Germany for the United States in 1938.
Lilly followed him to the U.S. in 1939, and after a brief stay, when Mies apparently
showed no interest in having her remain in the States, she returned to Germany and never saw him again. The war years were not good years for anyone, and were bad for Lilly. Her studio was bombed in 1943, and she heroically saved over 4,000 of Mies' drawings and documents from destruction, and hid them in a barn for safekeeping. She was drafted into forced labor, and worked under those conditions until the end of the war. Lilly never lost touch with her former partner and corresponded with him regularly until her death at age 62 in 1947.
tubular frame table in Villa Tugendhat, M.Pardy via flickr; MR lounge chair, themagazine.info /Artwork: designslinger]
Giving credit where credit is due, is not an inherent exercise in fairness. Lilly Reich was as
responsible for the Barcelona chair as Mies van der Rohe. Even if Mies was the leader of the team for all the interiors and furniture they produced in partership, Lilly should be credited because of her contribution. Yet, her name almost never appears next to Mies as the co-designer of the Barcelona chair, or any of the other pieces they created together. Was she as responsible for this slight as van der Rohe? Did Lilly believe that you stand by your man, but never overshadow him? And, even though she was a pioneering woman in the male dominated field of design, why did she follow the traditional "supportive wife" role in relation to her partner? We can only conjecture, but the times they are a'changin'.
A few years ago, scholars and historians began to realize that perhaps Lilly played a
much larger role in Mies' interior designs than previously thought. The jumping off point was the fact that after their partnership ended, Mies never designed another piece of furniture. With that hypothesis, and the discovery of supporting documentation, Lilly Reich is now being credited as Mies' collaborator in the design of the Barcelona chair as well as other pieces of furniture created during their partnership. Most of the information in books, journals and websites don't contain any mention of Lilly, but given time, and the vagaries of history, she will come out from behind Mies' shadow, to stand proudly at his side.
Posted by designslinger at 3/25/2009 4:40 AM 
Categories: Architecture, History, Interior Design, Furniture, Decorative Arts
Tags: Lilly Reich Mies van der Rohe Barcelona pavilion Barcelona chair Deutsche Werkbund
Categories: Architecture, History, Interior Design, Furniture, Decorative Arts
Tags: Lilly Reich Mies van der Rohe Barcelona pavilion Barcelona chair Deutsche Werkbund
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