Knoll Celebrates 75th Anniversary of the Iconic Womb Chair

- This year marks the 75th anniversary of Knoll's instantly recognizable and culturally significant Womb Chair. Designed by Eero Saarinen at the behest of Florence Knoll in 1948, the Womb Chair defied the era's conventions of what a chair could be, both in the techniques and the technology that allowed for its form, and ultimately, in its nonprescriptive function.

Said Florence Knoll at the time, "This was at my specific request because I was sick and tired of those chairs that held you in one position… I said, 'Why not take the bull by the horns and do the big one first?' That's what happened… I wanted a chair that was like a basket full of pillows…I wanted something I could curl up in."

The idea behind the Womb Chair's initial design intent — to answer our primal need for unbound comfort — continues to resonate across generations. In a 1949 letter to J. Irwin Miller, Saarinen explained that the chair's "was designed on the theory that a great number of people have never really felt comfortable and secure since they left the womb." The Womb chair is still manufactured to its original design and continues to be a top seller for Knoll.

Celebrating the Womb Chair
Knoll will kick off the Womb Chair 75th Anniversary celebrations Monday, May 22, during NYCxDesign. A limited-engagement exhibit tells the story of the Womb Chair from inception— the partnership between Saarinen and Knoll — to fabrication, and ultimately, to timelessness, demonstrating the staying power of original design.