Post No. 1 – Charles Pollock, Ron Sekulski and I
In 1973 I was in the middle of my studies at Pratt Institute working toward my degree in Industrial Design. One of my professors was Rowena Reed Kostellow. She announced in class one day that Charles Pollock, a Pratt graduate and a designer for Knoll would be coming to the campus to give a slide presentation of the Knoll au Louvre exhibition held at the famed Paris museum in 1972.
Pollock arrived at Pratt Studios and Reed Kostellow proudly introduced her former student. With Pollock was Ron Sekulski, his assistant and himself a Pratt graduate. The slide show started and Pollock launched into a brief history of Knoll, his first chair for Knoll, the No. 657 armchair, followed by his immensely successful No. 1250 Series executive chair, and then on to the Knoll au Louvre exhibition itself.
I was enthralled by what I saw. After the presentation, there was a question-and-answer session. I approached Ron, introduced myself and asked if Mr. Pollock hired summer interns. He took me over to Pollock, I posed the question, and he said, “Bring me your portfolio and I will let you know my decision,” or words to that effect.
Pollock’s home and design studio was in Queens. The NYC subway system got me to my station stop, then I walked a few blocks to his home, toting my portfolio. Pollock’s wife Maud greeted me at the door and took me into the living room where Charles Pollock was waiting. He pointed to a highback lounge chair with ottoman and said, “Sit down and tell me what you think.” This was the first prototype based off his executive chair with polished and plated aluminum extrusion rim. It was supremely comfortable, but, he told me, the shell design needed refinement.
He asked to see what I had in my portfolio so I showed him the drawings, renderings and some photos I had taken. He seemed favorably impressed and agreed to have me work helping Ron in the basement studio. The summer of 1973, I assisted Ron in the development of the second highback lounge chair prototype. Ron handled design development while I did nothing more challenging than mixing plaster of Paris, sanding molded parts and wielding cans of black spray paint. Pollock would come down for his upstairs office and stopped in daily to direct progress.
I worked at the Pollock studio with Ron the following summer. The highback lounge chair was never approved for production by Knoll, although the ottoman had briefly been a production item in the late 1960s. Ron went on to become a successful industrial designer in his own right. I moved up to Connecticut after graduating from Pratt, working for a number of design offices in Fairfield County. In 1981, I moved to Florida and transitioned from industrial design to electro-mechanical design where there were more opportunities for work. My dreams of furniture design faded away but my appreciation for Knoll furniture remained
Post No. 2 – Restoring a Charles Pfister No. 3015 Table
Any piece of furniture will experience wear over a period of years or even decades. This is particularly true of seating, whether it is a chair, settee, sofa or some other kind furniture. The most common restoration of seating is reupholstery. Tables, desks, storage cabinets and related casegoods require different skills only acquired from years of experience from building custom pieces or restoring existing furniture. A number of specialist companies in the United States and in Europe can perform this work equal to the furniture’s original manufacture. One of the most accomplished in this regard is Classic Design in Torrance, California. Established in 1986 by Raoul Benassaya, this company has built a welll-deserved reputation for craftsmanship and a long list of satisfied customers. It can perform design and manufacture of custom pieces as well as reupholster mid-century to late century pieces from Knoll, Herman Miller and other manufactuers.
In 2015, Classic Design received a fire-damaged Charles Pfister table in need of restoration. Originally manufactured in Italy, the table had been ordered in an off-white polyester finish for the table top with polished chrome legs. Several places on the table top had damage down to the hardwood core and the table edges displayed chips in the finish. The chrome trim along the edges was bent in several places. Pfister tables had not been manufactured in more than twenty years and could not be replaced. The owners asked if it could be restored and the answer was yes.
The legs and edge trim were removed from the table top. Weeks of restoration work followed. Special effort was made to color match the original polyester finish. The chrome trim was meticulously straightened and the legs likewise restored to as-new condition. When the restoration was completed the client was shown the finished work and they were extremely pleased. For the collector of Knoll furniture, finding a restoration firm like Classic Design can heighten the pleasure of ownership.
Post No. 3 – Knoll Reissues; May 17, 2025
Furniture designs released by Knoll typically have long production lives. This is evidenced by their continued strong sales, or sufficient to justify it’s production. Sometimes diminished sales coupled with the desire to introduce a new product will result in discontinuing production. As one example, the Life ergonomic office chair, designed by Formway and introduced in 2002, ceased production in 2025. That being the case, the Life chair is now collectible! Glad I have one.
The Richard Schultz Leisure Collection
The Richard Schultz Leisure Collection of outdoor furniture was introduced in 1966 and offered for several decades before Knoll stopped manufacturing it. In 2012, Knoll chose to reintroduce the Leisure Collection, and introduce some other pieces Schultz had designed but had not been manufactured. In addition, this furniture was now available in various colors.
The Charles Pollock No. 657 Armchair
When I was interviewed for a summer intern job by Charles Pollock at his home and design studio in Queens, NY, in his living room he had an example of the first chair he designed for Knoll. It was known just by its product number: 657. The chair, comprised of steel tubing, cast aluminum frame, phenolic arms and leather sling seat, was introduced in 1960 and sold reasonably well. Then, Pollock began working on a new office chair with the assistance of Don Albinson and the Design Development Group. When it was introduced in 1965, the Pollock Chair, as it was simply referred to, became an overnight sensation. Global sales of this striking executive chair were so strong and remained so that it is still in production after sixty years. Pollock’s 657 chair was overshadowed, even though a different kind of chair, and Knoll discontinued production of it. Decades later, Knoll decided to reintroduce this chair in 2014. Once a collectible, you can now order it once again from Knoll.
Tobia Scarpa Bastiano Collection
Tobia Scarpa’s Andre tables of polished and chrome plated steel and thick tempered glass tops were quintessential products in the Knoll catalog during the 1960s, 1970s and the 1980s. Scarpa followed his table designs with a comfortable seating group of lounge chair, settee and sofa he called the Bastiano Collection introduced in 1969. These remained in production for many years but were eventually discontinued in 1989. In 2022, Knoll resumed production and the chair and settee are shown here.
Mies van der Rohe Tugendhat Chair
In 2022, Johnathan Olivares was appointed Senior Vice President of Design for Knoll. Apart from the continuing search for new designers and their designs, Olivares had a list of discontinued Knoll offerings he wanted to see back in the Knoll catalog. One of them was the very rare Tugendhat Chair designed by Mies van der Rohe at roughly the same time as his iconic Barcelona Chair. The Tugendhat Chair was introduced in the 1960s and was only in production for a few years before it was discontinued. Knoll reissued the chair in 2025, with or without arms, and in a new array of fabrics and colors.
Morrison & Hannah Task Chair
When starting this website, I had the great good fortune to discover Bruce Hannah was still very active as an industrial designer. Hannah and Andrew Morrison had been two of the most prolific designers during the 1970s that Knoll had ever worked with. The design team of Morrison and Hannah continued for a decade before they decided to dissolve their partnership. By then, they had produced dozens of designs of their modular seating groups, chairs and tables. Eventually, all their designs were discontinued.
Olivares knew Hannah was still a practicing industrial designer on Long Island (Andrew Morrison passed in 2012) and wanted to reintroduce one of the M&H team’s designs. Olivares reached out to Hannah to get his thoughts, who agreed it would be a splendid idea. A meeting was scheduled and Hannah met with Olivares at his Knoll office in New York City. That in itself brought back many memories for Hannah. They went over the portfolio of Morrison and Hannah designs, and eventually settled on the 2300 series office chair. This was a practical decision as this particular design would lend itself to the biggest market and would sell the most units. For the 21st century, the chairs would be titled the Morrison-Hannah Task Armchair and the Morrison-Hannah Task Side Chair. If you missed your chance to buy one in the 1970s, now is your chance.
The Joseph D’Urso Occasional Table
When the Joseph D’Urso Collection was introduced by Knoll in 1980, it included several low rolling tables constructed of steel and offered in a variety of tops. Olivares admired them and wanted them back in the Knoll catalog. They became available again as the D’Urso Occasional Tables in 2025.
