Harry Bertoia would have been 100 in 2015. It would have been a well-earned birthday party for this versatile artist who created a chair design that was iconic in the history of 20th-century design. Born in Italy, he moved to the United States to pursue his education at the Cranbrook Academy of Art. This was how he had his pivotal meeting with Florence and Hans Knoll, who later asked him to design an entire line of furniture: the Bertoia collection. He set the stage with the Diamond Chair in 1952, with a shape that was both ergonomic and sculpted, made of arched and welded steel wires. Both cosy and elegant – a philosophy Bertoia used to care about -, the model was so successful that Knoll never stopped producing it. And now, a new generation takes over to bring furniture that is both beautiful and functional to contemporary interiors. Bertoia’s creations are the ultimate representation of the phrase “Less is more”. Both inside and outside the house, you need them to give a new lease of life into XVIIIth century furniture and accessorize a coloured wall. A true success story with evocative names: after the Diamond, there were the Bird, the Asymmetric and the Side. Forms and titles which make you travel, have fun and awaken your curiosity. Harry Bertoia was not only a designer: he was most of all an artist. A few of us know it, but sculpture was the work of his life.
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