Knoll - Warren Platner Coffee Table 1970

Coffee table Design by Warren Platner (1915-1978) for Knoll International (original label present) model listed entitled "coffee table" Elegant Modernist structure forming a bundle of curved and chromed steel wires receiving a thick smoked glass slab top. The base rests on its original protective ring in transparent plastic profile. Note some oxidation on the steel and chips on the top. Dimensions: 91 cm wide X 40 cm high. Warren Platner is a Designer known for creating furniture whose design is distinguished by its curved steel wire structure. The publisher Knoll first introduced this piece to the market in 1966, which was very successful with the public. Source: Knoll at the Louvre exhibition catalog at the Pavillon de Marsan, Musée des Arts Décoratifs 107, Rue de Rivoli in Paris. Warren Platner (1919-2006) was born in Maryland, in Baltimore. He graduated in architecture from Cornell University. He worked for Raymond Loewy, and IM Pei. In 1955, he received the Prix de Rome for architecture. Twelve years later, he opened his own firm named Warren Platner Associates in New Haven, Connecticut. He contributed to the Dulles Airport project (Washington DC), the Lincoln Center theater, the John Deere headquarters as well as part of Yale University. His collection including the Platner Chairs dates from 1966, it is a true design innovation that combines glass, fiberglass and fabric on the same collection. His Coffee tables as well as his Diner tables are highly sought after at auction because they are his most famous and emblematic creations. He designed the interior of the Windows of the World restaurant, located at the top of the World Trade Center, which opened in 1976. He collaborated with many architects on buildings in New York, but also worked in Chicago, Connecticut where his company was based, as well as in Washington. Before falling ill at the end of his career, he had international commissions, including planning to complete a shopping mall project in Greece. He died in 2006 in New Haven, Connecticut, where he worked his entire life. The majority of his furniture is published by Knoll and continues to be produced. Warren Platner has had a lasting impact on American furniture design, and has brought many innovations to it, like Charlotte Perriand and Jean Prouvé in France. He was one of the first to use fiberglass so much in the manufacture of his furniture, the process is expensive and tedious. His work is everywhere in major cities in the United States, from Ford headquarters to the Washington airport. His furniture is still appreciated today, being far from being outdated.