The Saarinen Collection

The Saarinen Collection of dining tables, introduced by Knoll in 1957 is as popular as ever. Designer Eero Saarinen wanted to tidy up what he saw as the 'slum' of legs with traditional tables and chairs and so created the sculptural and sensuous monobloc bases that have given the collection its nickname – Tulip.

Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen's primary intention when designing his last furniture series for Knoll International was to simplify and clarify structure. He declared: "The undercarriage of chairs and tables in a typical interior makes an ugly, confusing, unrestful world. I wanted to clear up the slum of legs. I wanted to make the chair all one thing again." He was also fascinated by new materials emerging in the 1950s: "What interests me is when and where to use these structural plastic shapes. Probing more deeply into different possibilities, one finds many different shapes are equally logical ñ some ugly, some exciting, some earth-bound, some soaring. The choices really become a sculptor's choice." Thus Saarinen's eponymous tables - and by extension, the Tulip chair which complements them - became a synthesis of perfect proportions, organic shapes and graceful curved lines.