Warren Platner 1966
Introduced in 1966, the Platner Collection of sculpted wire furniture captured the “decorative, gentle, graceful” qualities that were beginning to infiltrate the modern vocabulary. The Collection’s unique, harmonious forms are created by welding hundreds of curved vertical steel rods to circular frames.
An 18k gold finish option was added in 2015 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Platner Collection.
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…I, 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. 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 — what the chair did for the person in respect to the scale of the person and the space.”
Warren Platner made notable architectural contributions throughout his career, but it was his furniture collection for Knoll 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.
Nickel and Gold finishes are plated, Metallic Bronze is a painted finish.
16785 | Barcelona Couch
16786 | Platner Arm Chair with Florence Knoll Coffee Table
10389 | Platner Dining Table and Chairs
3754 | Platner Collection
11152 | Knoll New York Showroom
10412 | Saarinen Dining Table and Platner Arm Chairs
10380 | Bertoia Bird Chair and Platner Table with Platner Arm Chairs
10386 | Platner Dining Table and Dining Chair
13431 | Platner Collection
12673 | Platner Collection with 18k Gold-Plated Finish
5395 | Platner Dining Table and Arm Chairs
6498 | Platner Chairs and Cyclone Table
6192 | Platner Arm Chair
10890 | Platner Chair and Side Table
12267 | Platner Gold: Platner Arm Chair and Platner Stool
6101 | Platner Collection
4361 | Platner side chair and stool
3345 | Platner Lounge and Side Chair
5394 | Platner Lounge Chair, Arm Chair and Stool
5390 | Platner Lounge Chair, Arm Chair and Stool
5815 | Platner Arm Chair, Platner Stool
11610 | Warren Platner Collection
11609 | Warren Platner Collection
11608 | Warren Platner Collection
4489 | Platner Lounge Seating and Side Table
4454 | Platner Lounge Chair
1306 | Platner Lounge Chairs
1307 | Platner Side Chair and Stool
907 | Platner Collection Side Chair
The configurator below is for reference purposes only. All options, finishes and sizes may not be represented.
For the complete scope, please refer to the KnollStudio price list.