Showrooms

Pair Knoll International Warren Platner Wire Lounge Chair

Creator: Warren Platner
Offered by: Mary Kay's Furniture

Description
A stunning pair of original Model 1715 Platner wire Lounge Chairs designed by American architect and interior designer Warren Platner (1919-2006) for Knoll International circa 1970’s. Features steel frames in original nickel finish. Seat and back rail in original Knoll nubby fabric, recommend reupholstering, perfect patina. Great modern form with continuous arm to base design. Very Rare Vintage Modern Classic design. Each chair has original tags and original stickers (Knoll International 320 Park Avenue New York N.Y. 10022). The seat shell rests on an elastic rubber support stamped with the maker’s patented name “Elasta-Seat”. The base is constructed of steel rods running vertically, welded to circular and horizontal framing rods presented with a nickel plated finish. The underside is fitted with a ring to prevent wobbles.
Condition Report: Traces of oxidation to steel. Overall, in good condition with only minor wear/scuffs. Fabric in overall good condition with only minor wear/discoloration. Comfortable and very sturdy.

Creator: Knoll (Manufacturer), Warren Platner (1919-2006) (Designer)
In the Style Of: Mid-Century Modern
Place of Origin: United States
Date of Manufacture: ca 1970s
Period: 1970-1979
Materials and Techniques: Steel, Fabric
Condition: Good
Wear: Wear consistent with age and use
Measurements: 30.5 ” tall x 36.5″ wide x 24″ deep x Seat Height 17.5″

Warren Platner (1919 – 2006) of Baltimore produced a furniture collection that has proved to be a continuing icon of 1960s Modernism. He is also famed for designing several prominent interiors in New York City, including headquarter offices for the Ford Foundation building and the original Windows on the World restaurant, atop the World Trade Center. Platner graduated from Cornell University with a degree in architecture in 1941. His career began with work in some of the most prominent and remarkable architecture practices in the country. Between 1945 and 1950, he worked for Raymond Loewy and I.M. Pei. He received the Rome Prize in architecture in 1955. Platner was a part of Eero Saarinen’s office from 1960 to 1965, participating in the designs for the Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C., the Repertory Theatre at Lincoln Centre and several dormitories at Yale University. During this time, he also unveiled his seminal collection of chairs, ottomans and tables.
In the 1960s, as the modernist movement became more expressive, Platner focused on a quieter aesthetic, wishing to create more graceful structures. In 1966 Platner, in collaboration with Knoll , unveiled the Platner Collection—a series of sleek modern chairs, ottomans and tables that rest on an intricately sculpted base of cylindrical steel rods replicating a moiré pattern. Requiring over 1,000 welds for one piece alone, the complex design is a close marriage of architecture and industrial design. Though Platner designed other pieces, the Platner Collection was his most renowned collection that ultimately made a name for himself in furniture design.
Platner received the Rome Prize in 1955 for his architecture designs and was inducted into Interior Design magazine’s Hall of Fame in 1985.
The trained architect Warren Platner spent 1960 –65 working for Eero Saarinen in Michigan, where he was mainly entrusted with interior design projects. Inspired by the furniture of the Louis XV period, he created a series of tables, lounge chairs and stools made of decoratively bent steel wire. He proposed his designs to Knoll in 1962 and the furniture manufacturer agreed to produce them. The technical demands were considerable: What all the designs had in common was a cylindrical pedestal assembled out of more than one hundred steel wires, necessitating over a thousand welds per model.1 The seat shell of chair No. 1715 is made of fibreglass-reinforced plastic; this rests on an elastic rubber support spanned with clips across the base, whose underside is fitted with a plastic ring to prevent wobbles. It soon joined the canon of modern furniture design and became a shining example of Platner’s own definition of a classic as a piece which, ‘every time you look at it, you accept it as it is and you can see no way of improving it’.
Platner passed away in 2006 at the age of 86.

More Information

Documentation:	Makers Label/Invoice
Notes:	Knoll International
Origin:	United States
Period:	1950-1979
Materials:	Steel, Fabric
Condition:	Good. Traces of oxidation to steel. Overall, in good condition with only minor wear/scuffs. Fabric in overall good condition with only minor wear/discoloration. Comfortable and very sturdy.
Creation Date:	circa 1970’s
Number of Pieces:	2-3
Styles / Movements:	Modern, Mid Century
Incollect Reference #:	625037

Dimensions

W.	36.5 in;	H.	30.5 in;	D.	24 in;
W.	92.71 cm;	H.	77.47 cm;	D.	60.96 cm;

Seat H.	17.5 in;
Seat H.	44.45 cm;

Message from Seller:

Mary Kay’s Furniture, owned and operated by Mary Kay, offers a unique selection of high-quality, affordable furnishings, including mid-century modern, antique pieces, fine paintings, and accessories. Located in Cockeysville, MD, we travel across the U.S. to acquire exquisite items for designers, decorators, and collectors. Contact: 410.852.4896 | MaryKaysfurniture@gmail.com

Sold