Designer
Charles Pollock
Charles Pollock (1930–2013) was an American industrial designer, born in Philadelphia. He studied at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, served in the US Army and then worked with George Nelson, where he designed and sold "swag leg" chairs. He…
Biography
Background
Charles Pollock (1930–2013) was an American industrial designer, born in Philadelphia. He studied at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, served in the US Army and then worked with George Nelson, where he designed and sold "swag leg" chairs. He later presented a portfolio to Florence Knoll.
Signature Style
Knoll says his approach was a precise handling of line, form and materials. Pollock describes the thinking behind his executive chair as "Everything has an edge and everything is a line…", which led to the single aluminum rim that holds the chair together.
Notable Works
- The 657 Lounge (the Pollock Arm Chair), a leather and steel sling chair introduced by Knoll in 1961
- The Pollock Executive Chair, the 1250 series executive collection that Knoll's designer text says was introduced in 1965 (the product page header says 1963), in continuous production since according to Wikipedia
- The Penelope Chair for Castelli (1982) and the CP lounge chair for Bernhardt Design
Legacy
The Pollock Chair is called an icon of design on Knoll's cut sheet, and Wikipedia places it in the Smithsonian Institution and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Pollock died in Queens, New York, in 2013, still working on new chairs.
