Warren Platner Custom Desk
View Similar Items
Warren Platner Custom Desk
About the Item
- Creator:Warren Platner (Designer)
- Dimensions:Height: 29.25 in (74.3 cm)Width: 96 in (243.84 cm)Depth: 40 in (101.6 cm)
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1972
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Chicago, IL
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU84742256732
Warren Platner
Though his vintage furniture and interiors are icons of mid-century modernism, architect and furniture designer Warren Platner 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.
- Warren Platner Custom Wall SconceBy Warren PlatnerLocated in Chicago, ILWarren Platner Associates architects: Wall sconce. Custom for important commission. Features lift-up. Mirrored polished brass shield with four steel louvers.Category
Late 20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
MaterialsBrass, Steel
- Warren McArthur for Warren McArthur Corporation Table or DeskBy Warren McArthur Corporation, Warren McArthurLocated in Chicago, ILWarren McArthur for Warren McArthur Corporation Table or Desk from the Virginia State Library, Richmond V.A. Aluminum base, wood top with laminate surface Dimensions: 30¼"high 50½" w...Category
Vintage 1930s American Art Deco Desks
MaterialsAluminum
- Warren Platner SinkBy Warren PlatnerLocated in Chicago, ILSink taken out of a Warren Planter designed home in Connecticut. Sculptural curves with large nautilus handle accents. Located in Chicago.Category
Vintage 1980s American Art Deco Stone Sinks
MaterialsCeramic
$4,500 - Warren Platner Coffee TableBy Warren PlatnerLocated in Chicago, ILCustom coffee table, architectural commissioned interior by Platner Studio, manufactured by Lehigh Leopold. Honed Luna Pearl granite top with bronze base.Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsGranite, Bronze
- Warren Platner Cocktail TableBy Warren PlatnerLocated in Chicago, ILCustom Platner coffee table, architectural commission by Platner Office manufactured by Lehigh Leopold. Honed Luna pearl granite top with bronze base.Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
MaterialsGranite, Bronze
- Marcel Breuer Custom DeskBy Marcel BreuerLocated in Chicago, ILMarcel Breuer custom desk, acquired by Rufus Stillman, who built three separate Breuer Houses after seeing Breuer’s "House in the Garden” the year before f...Category
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Desks
MaterialsWalnut
$37,800
- Warren McArthur DeskBy Warren McArthurLocated in Brooklyn, NYBlack lacquered top and drawers in aluminium tube base, with aluminum handles. Original lacquer finish.Category
Vintage 1930s American Machine Age Desks
MaterialsAluminum
$8,500 - Custom 5, Drawer Lacquered DeskBy VenfieldLocated in New York, NYCustom, made to order 5-drawer lacquered desk with polished chrome & lucite pulls.Category
2010s American Modern Desks
MaterialsChrome
$14,650 / item - Custom English Partners DeskLocated in Woodbury, CTFeaturing handsomely grained mahogany on raised side panels, this partners desk would make an attractive addition to any office. From its antiqued, hand tooled leather top to its fou...Category
21st Century and Contemporary English Georgian Desks
MaterialsLeather, Mahogany
$17,750 / item - 1968 Executive DeskBy Warren PlatnerLocated in Hanover, MAExecutive desk formerly belonging to noted architect George M. Notter, (1933–2007) of the Boston firm Anderson Notter Finegold (now known as Finegold Alexander Architects). Current institutional memory at the firm suggests it was a special order from Herman Miller for the then new New York offices of MGM, however Herman Miller's archivist was unable to confirm. Styling, particularly the distinctive slim milled aluminum tracks through which the entire drawer carriage glides is clearly similar to Warren Platner's designs for Lehigh-Leopold which were then among the most costly of executive office furnishings. The bent flat bar chromed steel base with its distinctive pigeon toe splay is somewhat similar to a table base in Stow Davis' Electa Series, designed by Alexis Yermakov circa 1971. Walnut laminate top is very clean with no issues. One one corner edge shows a small separation. The only identifying markings are within the milled aluminum channel: G.P. F.I. 2 And the date Dec. 20, 1968. See image 18. Between the rectangular laminate top and the chrome base is a heavy blackened steel plate. Underneath the bent chrome pigeon toe feet are bars of a thick phenolic material which act as floor protector. We can have keys made to fit the two locking drawers. Tim Anderson...Category
Vintage 1960s American Mid-Century Modern Desks
MaterialsAluminum, Steel, Chrome
$6,500 - Drawing cabinet by Warren PlatnerBy Warren PlatnerLocated in Brooklyn, NYlocated in franceCategory
20th Century French Commodes and Chests of Drawers
- Custom Parchment and Bone DeskBy VenfieldLocated in New York, NYMade to order, custom desk covered in parchment with trim detail and pulls in bone. The desk shown is in mushroom grey (custom color). Custom dimensions available.Category
2010s Philippine Art Deco Desks
MaterialsBone, Leather, Wood, Goatskin
$28,500 / item