In its striking curtain wall of glass and modernist steel columns, Gordon Bunshaft’s International-style design for the Lever House — cocreated with Natalie de Blois — garnered widespread acclaim. The Pritzker Prize-winner was a legendary American architect, and his influence can be found today in city skylines all over the world.
Bunshaft studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology before undertaking fellowships in Europe and North Africa. In 1937, he joined New York City architectural firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill where he worked until his retirement in 1979.
Bunshaft shared the same interest in modernist furniture as Florence Knoll, an architect and furniture designer who had a subtle but profound influence on the course of mid-century American modernism and who helped make Knoll Inc. a leading firm in its field. Bunshaft recommended that Knoll be placed in charge of interiors when, while at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, he designed the Connecticut General Life Insurance Company’s headquarters in the mid-1950s.
Bunshaft’s projects drew heavily on the pioneering architectural work of Le Corbusier as well as Mies van der Rohe, an iconic furniture designer and fellow proponent of modernist architecture.
Celebrated architectural marvels created by Bunshaft include the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library for Yale University and the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Research Building for the University of Texas. Completed in 1974, Bunshaft designed the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, part of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., and finished the National Commercial Bank in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in 1983. The National Commercial Bank was his last project.
On 1stDibs, find vintage Gordon Bunshaft case pieces and other furniture.
Gordon Bunshaft's Collection: Lighter, Paperweight, Shovel Pin and Glass Piece
By Gordon Bunshaft
Located in Philadelphia, PA
This is a collection of personal desk objects from the estate of Gordon Bunshaft, the influential American architect best known for his work with Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and iconi...
Metal
Murano Glass Paperweight
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Vintage Italian Murano glass paperweight hand blown with intricate white, light blue, and dark blue ribbons / Made in Italy, circa 1960s Origina...
Murano Glass
Murano Glass Paperweight
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Vintage Italian Murano glass paperweight hand blown with white "filigrana" - white filaments intricately superimposed and intertwined within the glass / Made in Italy, circa 1960s Me...
Murano Glass
Art Glass Heart Paperweight Decorative Object
By Robert Held
Located in New York, NY
A beautiful and substantial art glass heart paperweight or decorative object by artist Robet Held, circa late-20th century. Heart is a light blue art glass with touches of blue and p...
Art Glass
Venini Glass Paperweight
By Venini
Located in New York, NY
This egg-shaped Venini glass paperweight has a purple spiral encased in an orange spiral. It still bears the original Venini label with the Veronese va...
Glass
Murano Glass Paperweight
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Vintage Italian clear Murano glass paperweight hand blown with bollicine technique / Made in Italy, circa 1960s Measures: Diameter 3.75...
Murano Glass
Murano Glass Paperweight
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Vintage Italian Murano glass paperweight hand blown with white and red scrambled canes within the glass, made in Italy, circa 1960s Measures: Diameter 3 inches, height 2.75 inches 1 ...
Murano Glass
FORNASETTI Glass Paperweight
By Fornasetti, Piero Fornasetti
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Vintage glass sphere paperweight by Fornasetti, made in Italy in the 1990s Original label underside Diameter: 3 inches / Height: 1.5 inches 1 ...
Glass
Collection of Six Glass Multicolored Paperweights
Located in London, GB
These glass paperweights are wonderful decorative pieces which will make perfect desk accessories or collectables. The paperweights are all slightly different in their shape and ...
Glass, Art Glass
Millefiori Paperweight Murano Italian Art Glass Paperweight, 1960s
By Formia Murano
Located in Antwerp, BE
Murano midcentury modern 1960s Millefiori flower, green, blue, red, white murine Italian Art Glass paperweight.
Art Glass, Murrine
Murano Glass Paperweight
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Vintage Italian Murano glass paperweight hand blown with multicolored glass canes to form "millefiori" / made in Italy, circa 1960s Measures: diameter 3.15 inches / height 3.15 inche...
Murano Glass
Murano Glass Paperweight
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Vintage Italian Murano glass paperweight hand blown with red, green, and yellow swirl pattern / made in Italy, circa 1960s Measures: Diameter 2.5 inches, height 2.5 inches Please not...
Murano Glass
Murano Glass Paperweight
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Vintage Italian Murano glass paperweight hand blown with intricate airbubbles / Made in Italy, circa 1960s Measures: diameter 5 inches / height 4 inches 1 available in stock in Italy...
Murano Glass