Original 1970s Knoll Barcelona Chairs, Reupholstered the Right Way

The Project

The full restoration story.

Why These Chairs Matter

The Barcelona Chair was created for the German national pavilion at the 1929 Barcelona International Exhibition. The Mies van der Rohe Foundation credits Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich with the Pavilion and the chair, which was designed for the official reception presided over by the King and Queen of Spain. Mies van der Rohe Foundation

Knoll describes the Barcelona Chair as one of the most recognized modern design objects of the last century, and its construction details are part of what make an authentic restoration so demanding. Knoll International

The Problem With the Old Upholstery

These original Knoll chairs had been reupholstered in the 1990s, but the work was done the easy way instead of the correct way. The shortcut is to sew seam lines onto one large continuous piece of leather, then add the buttons so it looks paneled from a distance.

That approach misses the construction logic of the chair. It flattens the cushion, weakens the tailored grid, and removes the depth that comes from building the panels separately.

Twenty Squares, Twenty-Six Short Pipings

For this restoration, each cushion face was rebuilt from 20 individual leather squares. Each panel received its own welt, creating 26 short pipings plus the perimeter piping that wraps the full cushion.

That method is slower, but it is the point. Knoll's current product details describe Barcelona cushions as individually cut, hand-welted, and hand-tufted panels secured with belting leather straps, so the restoration had to respect that same construction language. Knoll

Custom-Dyed Straps and Cleaned Frames

Rahn's also made new leather straps for the back and seat. The straps were built from custom-dyed belt leather and riveted together so the support system matched the restored cushions.

The stainless steel frames were cleaned rather than overworked because they were already in good shape. The goal was not to erase the age of the chairs. It was to correct the upholstery and preserve the original modernist frame.