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Tulip Armchair
Iconic Designs

Tulip Armchair

About the Design

Eero Saarinen (1910–61) absolutely hated clutter. "The undercarriage of chairs and tables in a typical interior makes an ugly, confusing, unrestful world,” the Finnish-American architect and industrial designer once said. “I wanted to clear up the slum of legs.” With the original Tulip armchair, he did just that, streamlining the standard four-legged piece into a graceful shape atop a single pedestal.

The 1957 design — which is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York — was one of Saarinen’s last; he died in 1961. Its sculptural shape displays the best of Saarinen, who referred to himself as a “form giver,” whether that form was a flower-shaped seat or the swooping curve of the Gateway Arch, a more than 600-foot-tall stainless-steel-clad concrete monument in St. Louis, Missouri, that he designed in the late 1940s.

The Tulip armchair was part of Saarinen’s Pedestal collection of armless chairs, stools, dining tables and more — a mid-century modernist exercise in simplifying. The series was designed for Knoll, which continues to produce it today. Visitors to the TWA Hotel, the 2019 reinvention of Saarinen’s iconic airport terminal, will find Tulip chairs dotting the structure.

Interestingly, the Tulip armchair’s shape suggests one single plastic form, but despite Saarinen’s many experiments to achieve this, it is actually constructed in two pieces: an aluminum frame obscured in a plastic finish and a fiberglass upper-shell seat. Two parts or one, it achieves Saarinen’s desired streamlined effect.

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Set of four Eero Saarinen Swivel Tulip Armchairs Model 150, 1970s by Knoll Int.
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Located in Brooklyn, NY
A classic piece of modern design combining elegance and functionality, the Knoll tulip armchair was designed by Eero Saarinen in 1957. It feature...
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Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Armchairs

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Metal

1960s Set of 4 Vintage Eero Saarinen Resin Armchairs
By Eero Saarinen
Located in Marseille, FR
Set of 4 vintage Saarinen resin armchairs from the 1960s Knoll edition with a height of 82 cm and a width of 67 cm by 50 cm. Original cushions in leatherette for most to change.
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Epoxy Resin

Tulip Armchair by Eero Saarinen
By Eero Saarinen, Knoll
Located in Sagaponack, NY
A Mid-Century Modern dining chair designed by Eero Saarinen. This chair features an upholstered seat on a white enameled cast iron pedestal base. Upholstery varies. Manufactured by K...
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Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Armchairs

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Set of Armchairs by Eero Saarinen for Knoll International, USA 1970
By Eero Saarinen, Knoll
Located in Amsterdam, NL
An impressive set of four armchairs designed by Eero Saarinen, manufactured by Knoll International in the USA around 1970. This iconic model is known as the “Tulip” chair and this i...
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Set of 6 Tulip Armchairs by Eero Saarinen for Knoll, plumb upholstery, 1960's
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Located in Chicago, IL
Eero Saarinen Tulip armchairs, with plumb upholstery. Knoll Associates, 1960's Set of 6 chairs Manufacturer "320 Park Avenue" labels attached underneath cushions, which dates back t...
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Vintage 1960s Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs

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Tulip Chair by Eero Saarinen
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Iconic "Tulip" armchair by designer Eero Saarinen (1910-1961) from the 1950s. The shell is made of molded fiberglass, the base is made of cast aluminum, and the seat is cushioned with a high-end blue velvet fabric. Eero Saarinen's Tulip chair...
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Mid-20th Century Armchairs

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Set of Eight (8) Tulip Chairs by Eero Saarinen for Knoll
By Knoll, Eero Saarinen
Located in Sagaponack, NY
A rare grouping of eight (8) iconic Tulip swiveling dining chairs by Eero Saarinen featuring the Classic organic sculptural form and orange wool upholstery on white enameled cast iro...
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Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs

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Knoll Tulip Dining Set by Eero Saarinen 1960s Large Marble Table Armchairs
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Located in Ijzendijke, NL
Magnificent fully original tulip dining set designed by Eero Saarinen and produced by Knoll International in the 1960s. The set consists of 6 original marked tulip armchairs and the ...
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Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Sets

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1970s Rosewood Tulip Dining Table & Six Chairs Set By Eero Saarinen for Knoll
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Located in Shepperton, Surrey
An original 1970 vintage tulip dining set by Eero Saarinen for Knoll. Saarinen's tulip design combines grace with practicality. The rare Rio...
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Eero Saarinen 'Tulip' Armchairs and Centro Progetti Tecno Round Table
By Eero Saarinen, Tecno, Knoll
Located in Waalwijk, NL
Set of Eero Saarinen for Knoll set of six 'Tulip' armchairs with Centro Progetti Tecno round dining table Eero Saarinen for Knoll, set of six 'Tulip' armchairs, fiberglass, aluminu...
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Vintage 1970s European Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Sets

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Eero Saarinen Tulip Armchair Knoll Studio 1970s
By Knoll, Eero Saarinen
Located in Stockholm, SE
Tulip armchair by Eero Saarinen for Knoll International. Moulded fibreglass shell and cast aluminium base. Its organic shape remains timeless and elegant. Set of 4 armchairs. ...
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