Knoll: News - Modern Revivals by Nakashima and Saarinen Featured in The New York Times

Modern Revivals by Nakashima and Saarinen Featured in The New York Times
December 20, 2007
The New York Times today featured recently reintroduced classic Knoll designs by Eero Saarinen and George Nakashima in the Personal Shopper column of the paper's House & Home section.

For her piece on "Midcentury Modern Revivals," Marianne Rohrlich selected the Nakashima straight backed chair and the Saarinen dining chair. The Saarinen chairs are featured in a modern interior dining room.

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The Saarinen influence

The first-ever retrospective exhibition of architect Eero Saarinen's remarkable career is on view at the Cranbrook Art Museum in Bloomfield Hills through March 30.

If you live anywhere near Windsor, this would be worth a trip to see.

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Modern resurrection is a wonderful tale of how a ruined mid-century husk was rescued and re-imagined for the 21st century. Be sure and check out the full photo spread, including some spectacular interior shots, by clicking on the picture.

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News Democrat Journal - Life & Style -

Although construction of the Arch didn't begin until 1963, it was actually designed during a nationwide competition in 1947-1948 by architect Eero Saarinen.

Now that's what I call thinking big, Mid-Century-wise.

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STLtoday - Life & Style - Home & Decor

Tulip is a modern classic

When Finnish architect Eero Saarinen developed his landmark pedestal collection, his goal was "clear up the slum of legs" that characterized the American dining experience. The inspiration was a drop of liquid, the result was the Tulip table, a curvy aluminum base with a swiveling laminate top.

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Henningsen, Saarinen, Jacobsen....

I found the four Jacobsen Series Seven chairs (complete with a tattered piece of a Fritz Hansen label on the underside of one seat) at a sidewalk sale in the Castro, painted flat-mud brown by, apparently, somebody using a toothbrush to smear on the paint. Sixty bucks and some elbow grease later....

Which brings up another nice thing about MCM furniture: There's quite a bit of it still around, and there are quite a few people who regard it as junk. That won't always be the case, so enjoy it - and take advantage of it - while you can.

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One good way to stir controversy among MCM aficionados is to proclaim your choice for the "best" of anything.

Chairs, for some reason, are especially contentious. Here is my pick for the best of the MCM lounge chairs: the Saarinen Womb Chair, reportedly designed for Florence Knoll, who told Saarinen to create a chair "she could curl up in." Far more than the Eames 670 lounger, the Womb Chair embodied the MCM tenets of simplicity, new materials, biomorphic shapes, and ergonomic design.

What would be your pick? Let us know in the comments.

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