Warren Platner

Warren Platner (1919-2006) studied architecture at Cornell before working in the offices of Raymond Loewy, Eero Saarinen, and I. M. Pei. He later designed the Georg Jensen Design Center and the Windows on the World restaurant at the World Trade Center in New York. His furniture collection for Knoll, introduced in 1966, brought a decorative and graceful quality he felt was absent from mid-century modernism.

Each chair in the collection requires more than a thousand individual welds and over one hundred cylindrical steel rods, arranged in close parallel bands around circular frames. Platner personally developed the production techniques. The rods catch and deflect light differently as the viewer moves around a piece, shifting from near-transparent to dense. Original examples from the 1960s remain in daily use and are visually indistinguishable from current production.

The collection includes a lounge chair, arm chair, easy chair, ottoman, stool, coffee table, side table, and dining tables in 54-inch and 70-inch widths. Tables use glass tops; seating uses upholstered seats and backs. The frame is nickel-plated steel throughout.

The Platner Collection is available in Canada at GRShop with a range of Knoll fabric and leather options. See also: Saarinen Collection, Knoll Classics.