In 1986 a new Barcelona Pavilion was completed on the site of the original 1929 German Pavilion in Barcelona. That same year marked the 150th anniversary of photography and the centenary of Mies van der Rohe (1886-1969). Since then, much has been written about all three, jointly and singly. Whilst the literature on Mies van der Rohe has more than doubled in the past fifteen years, no scholar has yet to seriously study, at any length, the unique phenomenon that was, is and will continue to be the Barcelona Pavilion. Building Desire focuses on the pavilion's image of an enduring myth of modernity.