Architects designing bespoke furniture for their interiors is an expression of their architectural design in microcosm. Knoll has always sought these out as a means of design inspiration with a path to mass production, or in some cases, rather limited production. The more labor-intensive the furniture is, production is limited by the hands that make it, and price is inversely proportional to production numbers.
Knoll has manufactured furniture that is both an expression of design as well as the craft of furniture making. In some cases the challenge is respecting the design by the architect while crafting the furniture and selling it profitably. Knoll recognizes some designs simply cannot be mass-produced. By the same token, sale of these furniture pieces is limited by the number of interested buyers.
It is always intriguing to discover the circumstance for the meeting of the designer or architect with Knoll that results in a singular furniture piece or even a collection. In 1978, architect Richard Meier converted an under-utilized room within the Guggenheim Museum in New York City and designed the Aye Simson Reading Room. Meier designed a chair and large table to be used there for reading. For perhaps the first time, Meier looked at the finished chairs in the reading room and pondered if this chair had a broader application for other uses. Meier approached Knoll with the chair design, and he met with Jeffrey Osborne, Knoll’s Vice President of Design to discuss the possibility. Osborne was receptive and enthusiastic during Meier’s design presentation and saw more than a chair, he could see the design of the chair as the basis for a collection.
The chair was repurposed and redesigned by Meier at the direction of Osborne, and other furniture pieces were discussed. Knoll always requested prototypes from the designers or architects which accurately reflected their design intent and see how design details were executed. This was a new experience for Meier.
“Working with Knoll has been a wonderful experience,” Meier explained later. “I had made prototypes of my custom furniture before but found the change from that to manufacturing for sales to be enormous. Knoll has been conscientious from the start about preserving my design aesthetic. The necessary changes never affected design ideas—just manufacturing properties, or developing new ways for finishing or construction. Knoll is very careful to preserve the traditions of fine furniture craftsmanship. Every connection is a mortise and tenon, one of the most precise ways for joining wood furniture.”1
The Meier Collection grew to include the chair, two stools, four tables, a telephone stand/end table and the grandest piece in the collection, the rocking Chaise.2 However, the design, construction and finish of these pieces did not lend themselves to the manufacturing processes of the East Greenville, Pennsylvania plant. There was a reason Hans Knoll located the second plant (the first plant was in New York City) in that area of Pennsylvania. Montgomery and Lancaster counties had numerous furniture businesses and small shops and the workers embraced the craftsmanship work ethic. After inspecting several such businesses and presenting the proposed designs, Knoll selected John Martin in Ephrata township within Montgomery Country to make the pieces for the Richard Meier Collection.3
Laminated maple veneer was used for curved segments, while solid maple was used for straight segments. All joints were precise mortise and tenon construction. The finishes were black or white high-gloss hand rubbed lacquer urethane or clear low-sheen vinyl. It is assumed finished pieces were delivered to the East Greenville plant where they were carefully packed for final shipment to the customer.
The Richard Meier Collection was introduced by Knoll in 1982. Paul Goldberger, architectural critic for The New York Times felt it appropriate to review the collection designed by the noted architect.
“These are distinguished pieces,” Goldberger wrote, “notable for the attention they pay to physical comfort, quality of construction and pure design. The chaise, however, is more than distinguished; it is a triumphant work of design, as handsome, surely, as LeCorbusier’s classic chaise and yet significantly more versatile and comfortable. Meier’s furniture is beautiful in a way that seems to sum up the different aspirations of the modern movement, from Wright’s emphasis on materials to Mackintosh’s sense of proportion and scale to the International style’s air of cool self-assurance.”4
The Richard Meier Collection was in the KnollStudio 1988 Price List5 but was discontinued some time thereafter. It was not listed in the KnollStudio 1990 Price List.
1. “The Richard Meier Collection – Rediscovering the furniture designs of the acclaimed modern architect.” https://www.knoll.com/knollnewsdetail/the-richard-meier-collection.
2. Knoll Catalog and Price List, May 1984. 73-76, 119-120.
3. https://www.knoll.com/knollnewsdetail/the-richard-meier-collection.
4. Paul Goldberger, “Furniture by Architects: Vitality and Verve.” The New York Times. October 14, 1982.
5. KnollStudio Price List 1988. 56, 100, 180. The No. 830L Chaise with Grade Z Toscana leather with a price of $29,246.00 was the most expensive item in the Knoll catalog that year.