Designer spotlight: Eero Saarinen
Eero Saarinen, 1910-1961
Birthplace: Finland
Knoll Products: Saarinen dining and low tables, executive chair, executive side chair, Tulip chairs, Womb chair and ottoman
The son of architect and Cranbrook Academy of Art director Eliel Saarinen and his wife, textile artist Loja, Eero Saarinen studied sculpture in Paris and architecture at Yale before working on furniture design with Norman Bel Geddes and practicing architecture with his father. He collaborated on several projects in furniture design with his friend, Cranbrook alumnus Charles Eames, and opened his own practice in Bloomfield Hills in 1950. Among the many buildings for which he is known are the Dulles International Airport in Washington, DC, The Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri, and the TWA Terminal at Kennedy International Airport in New York. He was the recipient of numerous awards and the subject of many exhibitions.
(image and bio via knoll.com)
Designer spotlight: Harry Bertoia
Harry Bertoia, 1915-1978
Birthplace: Italy
Knoll Products: Bertoia side chair, Bertoia Diamond lounge, Bertoia Large Diamond lounge, Bertoia Bird lounge chair and ottoman, Bertoia bench, child’s Diamond chair
Italian sculptor, university lecturer and furniture designer Harry Bertoia displayed a unique stroke of genius with his patented Diamond Chair for Knoll International in 1952. Bertoia was an inventor of form and an enricher of furniture design with his introduction of a new material: he turned industrial wire rods into a design icon. Educated at Detroit Technical High School, the Detroit School of Arts and Crafts and Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, Bertoia taught metal crafts at Cranbrook. He worked with Charles Eames to develop his signature molded plywood chairs. Eero Saarinen commissioned him to design a metal sculptured screen for the General Motors Technical Center in Detroit. His awards include the craftsmanship medal from the American Institute of Architects, as well as AIA’s Gold Medal.
(image and bio via knoll.com)
Video: Knoll Roots
Check out this video on the history of Knoll. The 5 minute video features Florence Knoll herself talking about her time at Cranbrook and desire to be surrounded by the very best in the design industry.
For more video info on Knoll, take a look at their YouTube channel.
Spotlight on: Florence Knoll Bassett
Born (Florence Schust) in 1917, Florence was just 15 years of age when she began spending summers in Finland with world renowned architect Eliel and Loja Saarinen. While a young student at the Kingswood School on the campus of the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, Florence Knoll Bassett became a protegée of Eliel Saarinen. Read more
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