All an icon of modern design, the Barcelona Daybed is a must in every avant-garde, elegant space. With that sleek lines and hand-tufted cow cushions, the Barcelona Daybed has the virtue of making a big presence, without overcrowding your place.

Looking for information on the web of the Barcelona Daybed, there is a lot you can find: The unavoidable offers and stores;  blogs from enthusiasts of the Daybed and Mid Century Modern;  architecture magazines, and even webpages dedicated to tracking the appearances of the Barcelona Daybed, and Mid Century Modern items in TV series and movies.

But there is a lot of things that have been said about the Barcelona Daybed, and they are not all correct. Let’s  take a look.

The Barcelona Daybed is presented many times as part of the famous Barcelona Collection. Created by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe in 1928, the Barcelona Collection was released in the International Exposition of Barcelona of that year, and it has the classic elements of furniture we recognize today: The arch famous Barcelona Chair, the Barcelona Sofa, the Barcelona Loveseat, the Barcelona Bench and the Barcelona Table.

The Barcelona Daybed wasn’t released in Barcelona in 1928. It was a year later, in the United States,  when a relatively unknown architect by then, Philip Johnson, asked van der Rohe to redesign its apartment in New York.

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe came from a frenetic two-year period, with the design of the German Pavilion of the International Exposition of Barcelona (plus another two pavilions at that meeting), and with the design of the Villa Tugendhat. In those years, both Ludwig Mies van Rohe and Lilly Reich, by then its design assistant, had a very productive collaboration in interior design. 

Van der Rohe accepted the job, and assumed that all the prior experience with the Barcelona Collection would help him in this new task. And it was.

Starting with the Barcelona Bench as a prototype, van der Rohe elicited a daybed of elegant and refined simplicity. Following the trend of ancient times, the Barcelona Daybed has clear reminiscences of the Egyptian empire.

And why the fascination with the Barcelona Daybed?

The simplicity of design in the Barcelona Daybed is the main feature of this item, among its low-cut and inviting tufted cushions. According to Paul Galloway, collection specialist of the MoMA: “It’s an extremely simple way of delineating space”.  “It could sit against the wall, or by a window. And because is low it didn’t block the space.”

It wasn’t until 1964 that the house Knoll assumed the manufacturing of the Barcelona Daybed in the United States, but at that time it wasn’t called Barcelona. That name was given much later, in 1987, and became a great impact. 

For inspo, info and great offers in furniture, don’t miss the oportunity in Barcelona Design, the alternative for Mid Century Modern style furniture, with masterpieces like the Barcelona Sofa  or the Hans Wegner Shell Chair.