Warren Platner Shelves
Though vintage Warren Platner chairs, sofas and interiors are icons of mid-century modernism, the architect and furniture designer took his stylistic inspiration from as far back as 18th-century France, once saying about his seminal collection for Knoll that his design intent was to evoke “the kind of decorative, gentle, graceful kind of design that appeared in period style like Louis XV.”
Indeed, the marriage of modern sensibility and classical grace is a marker of Platner’s style across furnishings and interiors — both genres in which he left an enduring legacy.
Born in 1919 in Baltimore, Maryland, Platner studied architecture at Cornell before cutting his teeth working for design icons like Eero Saarinen and Kevin Roche, eventually serving as head of interior design in the latter’s office. In 1965, Platner opened his own office, in Greenwich, Connecticut, where he continued to hone his particular brand of graceful modernism.
Knoll released the Platner Collection of seating and tables in 1966. (Originally designed in 1962, the suite took nearly four years of development to bring to life.)
The decorative bent-metal-and-glass pieces — an armchair, a dining table and more — make certain nods to the trademarks of his former employers, but also to the shapes of historic European furniture. The sculptural elegance of his line recalls Saarinen’s iconic Tulip collection, which includes armchairs and dining tables, while his materiality aligns with Roche’s cutting-edge use of glass and metal for the headquarters of the Ford Foundation in New York.
Many of Platner’s Knoll pieces would go on to find homes in a certain fabled locale: the Windows on the World restaurant at the original World Trade Center, whose interiors Platner was tapped to outfit in the mid-1970s. Upon the opening of the restaurant in 1976, New York Times architecture critic Paul Goldberger dubbed its style “sensuous modernism” — an apt tagline for Platner’s oeuvre as a whole.
Platner died in 2006 at the age of 86. His furniture is still produced by Knoll, and original examples — along with idiosyncratic custom works he created for interior design clients — are coveted by collectors today.
Find vintage Warren Platner furniture on 1stDibs.
1980s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Warren Platner Shelves
Marble, Bronze
1950s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Warren Platner Shelves
Bamboo, Rattan
Late 20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Warren Platner Shelves
Leather
1970s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Warren Platner Shelves
Brass, Chrome
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Warren Platner Shelves
Walnut
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Warren Platner Shelves
Bamboo, Rattan
20th Century Spanish Hollywood Regency Warren Platner Shelves
Metal, Brass
1970s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Warren Platner Shelves
Brass
Mid-20th Century Italian Warren Platner Shelves
Wood
1960s American Vintage Warren Platner Shelves
Aluminum
1970s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Warren Platner Shelves
Brass
1960s Danish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Warren Platner Shelves
Brass
1980s Italian Post-Modern Vintage Warren Platner Shelves
Aluminum
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Warren Platner Shelves
Brass
