As part of our mid-century modern series, we spotlight the iconic Diamond Chair, which artist Harry Bertoia sculpted for Hans and Florence Knoll by experimenting with metal wire.
In 1950, Italian-American sculptor Bertoia was given the rare opportunity that many creatives dream about.
Designers Hans and Florence Knoll granted him carte blanche to design, or sculpt, anything he desired. Their only requirement was that Bertoia shared anything of interest with them, with their promise that he would receive full credit for the design.
Harnessing his signature material, metal, Bertoia went on to design what came to be known as the Diamond Chair ? a sculptural diamond-shaped seat formed from a lightweight wire lattice.
The Diamond Chair is known for its distinctive wireframe form "I began to think in terms of what I would like as a chair," Bertoia said of the design process.
"I came into rod or wire, whether bent or straight," he continued. "I seemed to find myself at home. It was logical to make an attempt utilising the wire."
The Diamond Chair took just two years to design and enter production and has remained in production by Knoll ? the eponymous company of Hans and Florence ? ever since.
Today it is one of the most recognisable and iconic pieces of 20th-century furniture design.
It was designed by Harry Bertoia for Hans and Florence Knoll
The Diamond Chair is instantly recognisable thanks to its bent-metal form, which challenged the majority of...