Isamu Noguchi 1957
Initially conceived as a rocking stool, Isamu Noguchi's playful design caught the attention of Hans Knoll who thought it a perfect complement to the Bertoia wire collection. At the suggestion of Hans Knoll, Noguchi adapted the stool into a small table in 1954, and a full size dining table in 1957. The distinctive base features chrome-plated steel wires set into a cast-iron, black porcelain-finished foot. The top is available in white or black laminate.
After returning from a trip Japan where he had seen polyurethane basins and other unique objects made from plastic, Noguchi had the idea to create a stool using the same materials. “In 1954 I happened to do a stool that Hans Knoll liked; it was a rocking stool. I had the idea of making it out of plastic…He wanted them in some sort of wire, à la Bertoia. They asked me to adapt the stool to a table.”
After making the switch from plastic to wire and scaling the design to table size, Knoll marketed the Cyclone alongside the Bertoia wire chair collection for several years. The table was taken out of production in 1974, but was reintroduced in 2003. In collaboration with the Noguchi Foundation, the design is meticulously reproduced using Noguchi’s original drawings.
One of the most celebrated architects of the second half of the 20th century, Frank Gehry has made a career of pushing boundaries and questioning what architecture can do.
Gehry created his bentwood furniture collection for Knoll in 1992. Inspired by the surprising strength of a wooden bushel basket, he sought to fully integrate material and design, creating a structurally and aesthetically light masterpiece.
Top is birch plywood with laminate or veneer surface and natural birch edge.