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Celebrating 75 Years of the Womb Chair
Revolutionary in 1948 and resonant today.
Image courtesy Knoll
Image courtesy Knoll
Image courtesy Knoll
Image courtesy Knoll
Designed at the behest of Florence Knoll, Eero Saarinen’s groundbreaking Womb Chair is today ubiquitous as a beacon of comfort and icon of modern design.
The chair, originally released in 1948, resulted from Florence’s pioneering vision and specific request for seating she could curl up in “like a basket full of pillows”.
The result defied the era’s conventions of what a chair could be, both in the techniques and technology that allowed for its form, and ultimately, in its nonprescriptive function. Its acceptance of all postures speaks to the primal comfort of the womb the security of which Eero believed people long for.
Upon its release, the designer remarked, “Now, more than ever, we need to relax.” His words, and the Womb Chair, remain as resonant today as ever.
