Eero Saarinen Tulip Table History

The tulip table is an elegant piece of furniture designed by finnish american architect eero saarinen.

Eero saarinen tulip table history.

The tulip collection by eero saarinen finnish american designer and architect eero saarinen is perhaps most famous for his design which was created with structural engineer hannskarl bandel of the jefferson national expansion memorial more commonly known as the st. It was designed primarily as a chair to match the complementary dining table. Eero saarinen ˈ eɪ r oʊ ˈ s ɑːr ɪ n ə n ˈ ɛər oʊ finnish. Saarinen is best known for designing the washington dulles international airport outside washington d c the twa flight.

Eero saarinen 1910 1961 the tulip table tulip chair a design history the tulip table and chair were designed in the mid 1950 s by eero saarinen for the furniture house knoll international and were initially called the pedestal group owing to their remarkable base which grew like the flower from the centr. Together they created forward thinking furniture designs until he passed on at the young age of 51. Not many do it is hard to believe sometimes that this most current and contemporary of designs was borne in the last mid. He wanted to clear up the slum of legs underneath tables and chairs.

With its pedestal base the tulip chair made history as one of the first one legged chairs. From the late 1940s through the 1950s eero saarinen designed many of the most recognizable knoll pieces including the tulip chairs and pedestal tables the womb chair and the 70 series executive seating collection. Saarinen was well aware of the nonexistence of a one legged chair so he deliberately took upon himself the challenge of creating one. It came into form during the 1950s with hans and florence knoll with whom he collaborated to create this wonderful masterpiece.

The tulip table a unique elegant design with wonderfully natural curves and a choice of beautiful top finishes a creative masterpiece of a design from eero saarinen if you had no idea and were asked when you thought this table was designed would you guess the 1950 s. Eero saarinen s objective was simple. August 20 1910 september 1 1961 was a finnish american architect and industrial designer noted for his wide ranging array of designs for buildings and monuments. The tulip is a pedestal swivel chair with an aluminum base and a molded fiberglass shell.

The chair is often considered space age for its futuristic use. The tulip chair was designed by eero saarinen in 1955 and 1956 for the knoll company of new york city. One of those pieces was the popular saarinen table often referenced as the tulip table dating to the late 1950s. Saarinen didn t start working with hans and florence knoll whom he also met at cranbrook until the late 1940s.

An astute and critical design mind eero went through extensive research revisions and scale modeling to achieve his goal only to conclude that the solution to the design problem was simplicity itself.