Designer Bench BERTOIA White KNOLL

1.
Harry BERTOIA

Born in Italy in 1915, Harry Bertoia graduated from Technical High School, the School of Arts and Crafts in Detroit, and the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. Harry Bertoia opened his own metal workshop and taught jewellery design and metalworking. He then worked for Charles and Ray Eames in the Evans Product Company division, creating the iconic moulded plywood chairs. It wasn't until 1950 that he set up his own studio in Pennsylvania with Hans and Florence Knoll and designed five pieces of wire mesh furniture, including the Diamant armchair. This collection of furniture is now known as Bertoia for Knoll. After great success on the design market, he devoted himself exclusively to his first passion, creating more than 50 sculptures until his death, which were exhibited in cities across the United States and abroad. He has received numerous awards, including the Best Craftsman Medal and the Gold Medal from the Institute of American Architects. Harry Bertoia worked with some of the greatest architects of the time, including Eero Saarinen. His work is characterised by an almost sculptural and particularly airy form, as he himself said of the Bertoia collection: "If you look at these seats, they are made mainly of air, like a sculpture. Space runs through them".