Mies van der Rohe's famous and often-reproduced Barcelona Pavilion, built for the 1928 World's Fair--then demolished in 1930 and reconstructed as a permanent installation in 1986--was an important building in the history of modern architecture. Known for its simple form and extravagant materials, such as marble and travertine, the Pavilion stood on a large podium alongside a pool. With its perpendicular planes that seemed to shoot out into three-dimensional space, it was considered an instant milestone for both architecture and design. (Mies created his famous Barcelona Chair to go inside of...