Set of 5 Warren Platner for Knoll International Steel and Red Upholstery Lounge
About the Item
- Creator:Knoll (Designer),Warren Platner (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 30 in (76.2 cm)Width: 36 in (91.44 cm)Depth: 25.5 in (64.77 cm)Seat Height: 19 in (48.26 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 5
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:Mid-20th Century
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:New York, NY
- Reference Number:
Knoll
As a company that produced many of the most famous and iconic furniture designs of the 20th century, Knoll was a chief influence in the rise of modern design in the United States. Led by Florence Knoll, the firm would draw stellar talents such as Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Eero Saarinen into its compass. Their work would help change the face of the American home and office.
The company was formed in 1938 by the German immigrant Hans Knoll. He first worked with his fellow ex-pat, the Danish designer Jens Risom, who created furniture with flowing lines made of wood. While Risom served in World War II, in 1943 Knoll met his future wife, Florence Schust. She had studied and worked with eminent emigré leaders of the Bauhaus, including Mies, Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer. She won Knoll over with Bauhaus notions of industrial arts, and an aesthetic that featured flat and tubular metal frames and angular forms. When Hans died in a car crash in 1955, Florence Knoll was appointed head of the company. It was as much through her holistic approach to design — a core division of the firm was dedicated to planning office systems — as Knoll's mid-century modern furnishings themselves that she brought about the sleek and efficient transformation of the American workplace.
Today, classic Knoll furnishings remain staples of modern design collections and decor. A history of modern design is written in pieces such as the elegant Barcelona chair — created by Mies and Lilly Reich — Saarinen’s pedestal Tulip chair, Breuer’s tubular steel Wassily lounge chair and the grid-patterned Diamond chair by Harry Bertoia.
As you can see from the collection of these designs and other vintage Knoll dining chairs, sofas and tables on 1stDibs, this manufacturer's offerings have become timeless emblems of the progressive spirit and sleek sophistication of the best of modernism.
Warren Platner
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.
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: New York, NY
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 2 days of delivery.
- Pair of Warren Platner for Knoll Curved Steel and Blue Upholstered ArmchairsBy Warren PlatnerLocated in New York, NYPair of curved steel crescent shaped armchairs with blue upholstery. (Warren Platner for Knoll, circa 1966).Category
Mid-20th Century Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
MaterialsSteel
- Florence Knoll for Knoll International Beige Fabric Upholstered Lounge ArmchairBy Knoll, Florence KnollLocated in New York, NYAmerican mid-century lounge armchair with beige textured fabric upholstery and matching antimacassars, resting on four broad tapered wooden legs.(FLORENCE KNOLL FOR KNOLL INTERNATIONAL)Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
MaterialsFabric, Upholstery, Wood
- Florence Knoll for Knoll International American Mid-Century Orange Upholstered LBy Knoll, Florence KnollLocated in New York, NYAmerican mid-century lounge armchair with textured orange fabric upholstery, resting on four broad tapered wooden legs. (FLORENCE KNOLL FOR KNOLL I...Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
MaterialsUpholstery, Fabric, Wood
- Florence Knoll for Knoll International Brown Fabric UpholsteryBy Knoll, Florence KnollLocated in New York, NYAmerican Mid-Century rectangular museum bench with a brown fabric upholstered square channeled seat resting on a square chrome tube frame. (FLORENCE KNO...Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Ottomans and Poufs
MaterialsMetal, Chrome
- Charles Pfister for Knoll 'Tuxedo' Crushed Orange Velvet Lounge / ArmchairBy Knoll, Charles PfisterLocated in New York, NYAmerican mid-century 'Tuxedo' form lounge / armchair with crushed orange velvet upholstery, a square profile, and a removable seat and back cushion. (CHARLES PFISTER FOR KNOLL)Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
MaterialsUpholstery, Velvet
- Paul Tuttle 'Arco' Chrome and Red Patterned Upholstery Lounge / ArmchairBy Paul TuttleLocated in New York, NYAmerican Mid-Century 'Arco' form lounge / armchair with muted red upholstery with a geometric navy blue and beige dot pattern and removable seat cushion, supported by a chrome frame ...Category
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
MaterialsMetal, Chrome
- Pair of Armchairs by Warren Platner for Knoll International, 1960sBy Knoll, Warren PlatnerLocated in Lasne, BEArmchair by Warren Platner in metal and with original red fabric. Knoll edition. Seat height: 47 cm. Wear due to time and age of the armchair.Category
Vintage 1960s Central American Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
MaterialsMetal
- Pair of Warren Platner Lounge Chairs for KnollBy Knoll, Warren PlatnerLocated in Paris, FRPair of Warren Platner lounge chairs for Knoll.Category
Vintage 1960s American Lounge Chairs
MaterialsSteel
- Set of 2 Warren Platner Lounge Chairs for Knoll International, blue upholsteryBy Warren PlatnerLocated in Chicago, ILPair of Warren Platner Lounge Chairs for Knoll International. Blue upholstery, nickel frame. Earlier editions. The Platner Collection (1966) reflects his belief that there’s room i...Category
Vintage 1970s Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsNickel
- Pair of Warren Platner Lounge Chairs for Knoll InternationalBy Knoll, Warren PlatnerLocated in Little Burstead, EssexThis pair of Platner chairs are in great condition, the chrome rods are not at all rusty or bent and the upholstery has just been done in a Salm...Category
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Lounge Chairs
MaterialsChrome
- Set of 6 Warren Platners Chairs in cream/beige fabric by Knoll InternationalBy Knoll, Warren PlatnerLocated in amstelveen, NLWarren Platner dining chairs, beige kvadrat fabric, set of 6, Knoll International In 1966, the Platner Collection captured the “decorative, gentle, graceful' shapes that were beginn...Category
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Mid-Century Modern Dining Room Chairs
MaterialsWool
- Vintage Warren Platner Arm Chairs, Set of Six for KnollBy Knoll, Warren PlatnerLocated in Lambertville, NJA stunning example of the 1966 Warren Platner arm chair for Knoll, these chairs are timeless and integrate beautifully with many style tables. They f...Category
Vintage 1980s Mid-Century Modern Armchairs
MaterialsSteel