Why did Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier, and Marcel Breuer design their own furniture?

In the context of 20th-century architecture, Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier, and Marcel Breuer designed their own furniture primarily because they could not find suitable contemporary pieces to complement the innovative, non-historical structures they were creating in the 1920s and 1930s.1

As pioneers of the Modernist movement, these architects sought to create a complete, homogeneous physical environment where the interior design was in total harmony with the architectural concept. Because their buildings often lacked traditional references, they required furniture that reflected the same principles of Functionalism, simplicity, and modern technology.213

By designing their own furnishings—such as Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona chair—these architects ensured that the furniture was an integral part of the building’s totality rather than a decorative afterthought. This approach allowed them to maintain "architectural integrity" and "structural honesty" throughout the entire space, ensuring that the furniture, like the architecture itself, was expressive of its purpose and materials.41567