Inspired by the surprising strength of the apple crates he played on as a child, Frank Gehry created his thoroughly original collection of bentwood furniture.
The ribbon-like designs transcend the conventions of style by exploring, as the great modernists did, the essential challenge of deriving form from function. Today, Gehry's groundbreaking collection of laminated maple chairs and tables is included in the permanent collection of museums around the world.
Constructed of hard white maple veneers in 5cm wide, 1mm thick strips on Hat Trick and High Sticking chair, laminated to 7 to 9-ply thickness with high-bonding urea glue. All wood grains run in same direction for resilience. Thermo-set assembly glue provides structural rigidity without the need for metal connectors, while allowing for ergonomic movement andflexibility. Backs on all chairs flex for added comfort.
Frank Gehry, born 1929 in Toronto, Canada, graduated in architecture from the University of Southern California before studying urban planning at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design.
In 1962 he founded the architectural firm Frank Gehry & Associates in Los Angeles. He designed the Easy cardboard furniture series Easy Edges between 1969 and 1972. Over the years he has taught at several universities, including Harvard and Yale, where he served as Charlotte Davenport Chair of Architecture (1982, 1985, 1987-89) and where he still teaches.
Gehry has received numerous honorary degrees from several institutions, including the University of Toronto, the University of Southern California, Yale University, Harvard University, and the University of Edinburgh.
Knoll uses modern design to connect people to their work, to their lives, to their world. Since 1938, it has been internationally recognized for creating furniture for work and residential environments.
For more than 80 years Knoll has remained true to the Bauhaus design philosophy that modern furniture should complement the architectural space. At Knoll, modern design has been the guiding principle and this passion has been shared by customers and design professionals around the world. The founders, Hans and Florence Knoll, embraced the creative genius of the time. Supported schools were Bauhaus School and Cranbrook Academy of Art to create new types of furniture and workplace environments.
Their approach, where craftsmanship joins technology through the use of design, sets the perspective and shapes the values that live today. 80 years of historical collaborations, with pioneering modernists and daring contemporary designers, define not only the past but the future through active, recent and future collaborations with Antenna Design, Don Chadwick, Formway Design, Jehs & Laub, Joseph D'Urso , David Adjaye and OMA.
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