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Warren Platner studied at Cornell University, graduating in 1941 with a degree in architecture. He went on to work with legendary architects Raymond Loewy, Eero Saarinen, and I. M. Pei before opening his own architecture practice. Platner made notable architectural contributions throughout his career, including the Georg Jensen Design Center and the Windows on the World restaurant in the World Trade Center – both in New York City. It was his furniture collection for Knoll, however, that earned Platner worldwide renown.
Originally introduced by Knoll in 1966, the Platner Collection is an icon of modern furniture. Platner personally formulated the production techniques for the complicated designs with each chair requiring over a thousand welds and more than one hundred cylindrical steel rods. Knoll also introduced an executive private office collection designed by Platner.
With his experience in the firm of Eero Saarinen and Associates, it is not surprising that the mantel for the second generation of pedestal and wire furniture fell on the creative shoulders of Warren Platner. Reflecting a dramatic shift in cultural values, modernism became more expressive in the 1960s. Platner felt there was an opportunity to merge the competing aesthetics of the time.
“I began to think about what I thought furniture, specifically a chair, really might be, starting with the philosophy that it isn’t going to be aggressively technological, or aggressively handicraft…, as a designer, felt there was room for the kind of decorative, gentle, graceful kind of design that appeared in period style like Louis XV, but it could have a more rational base instead of being applied decoration…I thought why separate support from the object. Just make it all one thing. It starts at the floor and comes up and envelops me, supports me. What I wanted to achieve was a chair that, number one, was complementary to the person sitting in it, or to the person in the space between the wall and the chair. The chair certainly is very comfortable and appears to float in the space by the passing of light through the structure.
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General note: Shipping quotes, as supplied by 1stdibs, are only indicative. Please contact us directly with your shipping requirements and we will source the most competitive shipment method (and rate) for every individual piece.Creator: Knoll (Maker),Warren Platner (Designer)Design: Platner ArmchairPlatner SeriesDimensions: Height: 29.53 in (75 cm)Width: 28.35 in (72 cm)Depth: 22.05 in (56 cm)Seat Height: 19.3 in (49 cm)Style: Modern (Of the Period)Materials and Techniques: Chrome,Fabric,SteelPlace of Origin: United StatesPeriod: Late 20th CenturyDate of Manufacture: 20th CenturyCondition: GoodWear consistent with age and use. Minor fading. The upholstery is original to the chair and as such shows signs of age related discolouring and wear. Easily reupholstered if so desired in leather, or fabric of your choice. This is something that we can offer should you require.Seller Location: London, GBReference Number: 1stDibs: LU2868333857692
Platner Armchair
Designed by Warren Platner
Despite being made of sturdy nickel-plated steel wire rods, the Platner armchair designed by Warren Platner (19192006) takes on a delicate, organic quality.
The interior designer and furniture maker studied architecture at Cornell University before working in the offices of Raymond Loewy, I.M. Pei and Eero Saarinen. Architecture became Platners primary field the Baltimore native was the 1955 winner of the Rome Prize in Architecture, and he is best known for his glamorous design of the Windows on the World restaurant at the original World Trade Center. Over time, Platner also developed a special interest in furniture and took on interior projects under award-winning Irish-American architect Kevin Roche. As head of interior design for Roche’s firm in the mid-1960s, Platner created the now-revered office spaces at the Ford Foundations headquarters in New York City. While finishing that project, he went on to open his own practice in Connecticut.
Platners armchair was part of the decorative Platner Collection, his seminal work in furniture design. In addition to the armchair, the series created in 1962 originally included a dining table, side tables and more. The designer had already built a relationship with Knoll over the years, and the company introduced Platner’s chair in 1966. Platner found inspiration for this piece in the now-celebrated designs that came before it, such as Saarinens Tulip chair and tables. But rather than firmly plant his work within the futuristic realm of mid-century modernism, Platner incorporated a graceful aesthetic reminiscent of the Louis XV era in his lightweight chair. The Platner armchair is still produced by Knoll today.
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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 Platners 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 latters 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 Saarinens iconic Tulip collection, which includes armchairs and dining tables, while his materiality aligns with Roches cutting-edge use of glass and metal for the headquarters of the Ford Foundation in New York.
Many of Platners 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 Platners 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.
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