Barcelona Pavilion and Beyond

Film screening of Mies on Scene. Barcelona in Two Acts, followed by a discussion. In collaboration with the Fundació Mies van der Rohe, Barcelona

Within the frame of the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018, ANCB will screen the recent documentary ‚Mies on Scene‘ by the Fundació Mies van der Rohe, about the reconstruction of Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona Pavilion. The film, together with the book ‚Mies van der Rohe – Barcelona 1929′ focus on the knowledge and dissemination of architecture, promoted by the foundation. The film is an intimate portrait of the pavilions‘ lives, explained through the voices of protagonists who were involved in the reconstruction in the 1980s. The screening will be followed by a short conversation about the pavilion, the architectural but also political and societal meaning of European cultural heritage for the future and in context with urban space, as well as reconstruction as strategy.

PROGRAMME
Welcome
Kristin Feireiss Director, ANCB The Aedes Metropolitan Laboratory, Berlin
Anna Ramos Director, Fundació Mies van der Rohe, Barcelona
Miriam Mlecek Programme Manager, ANCB The Aedes Metropolitan Laboratory, Berlin

Film Screening
Mies On Scene. Barcelona in Two Acts
A documentary on Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona Pavilion reconstruction (57:19), Catalan, Spanish, English with English subtitles

Panel Discussion
Johannes Robbrecht Partner, Robbrecht en Daem Architecten, Gent, Belgium
Adrian von Buttlar Professor for Art History, TU Berlin
Laura Martínez de Guereñu Assistant Professor of Architecture, IE School of Architecture and Design, Madrid-Segovia
Anna Ramos Director, Fundació Mies van der Rohe, Barcelona
Moderator: Nikolaus Bernau Architecture Critic, Art Historian, Journalist, Author, Berlin

Background
Mies’s Barcelona pavilion was designed during the Weimar Republic to symbolise the new democratic, open and modern society of Germany while the Nazi dictatorship was already looming. Its reconstruction was completed in Spain’s post-Franco era and symbolised a new beginning for the city. The positioning of the pavilion in the two countries’ specific historical moments can serve as a starting point to discuss the interdependencies of national heritage in the context of a shared European heritage. The interplay of historical elements and materials in terms of site and within the building itself – while a provocation at the time – helped to establish a new modernism and language. What can we learn from this dialogue between a heritage and its surroundings? The pavilion was reconstructed decades after its demolition, which caused intense debates on the concepts of reconstructions and replication. Both the documentary and the book took off when celebrating the 30 years of the reconstruction, following an international exhibition and a symposium. Currently many world heritage sites are under threat from conflicts or climate change. How do we deal with the loss of built heritage? Is reconstruction an option?

The pavilions’ reconstruction was an incentive for the ensuing regeneration of the city of Barcelona. Can heritage sites serve as stimuli for urban renewal and can temporary pavilions continue to play a role in the urban culture today (e.g. Serpentine, MPavilion, Expos….)?

The event will be in English. Admission is free. Please register at reply@ancb.de. We look forward to welcoming you

Foto: © Nihao films and Fundació Mies van der Rohe