Five North American design icons, and why they have become so popular

Whether a design classic or designer should be considered North American depends on so many different things. Where the designer was born, where they were active and what or who contributed to making the design a classic. All of this in itself becomes a perfect picture of what North America stands for: A melting pot of influences and personalities from around the world, who for various reasons have landed on North American soil and have become synonymous with culture. Below, we will give you five pieces of designer furniture that are all directly associated with North America both in terms of design and the person behind the design. Typical example of sustainable consumption and style.

The Tulip Chair - Eero Saarinen

Finland born Eero Saarinen worked as an architect and furniture designer, and worked during their adult life in Michigan, USA. His design is in a strong functionalist spirit, but where many designers in that school let function dominate, not infrequently beyond aesthetics, Saarinen believed that design and function must also embody emotional values. A clear example is how the airport terminal should not only prepare good logistical solutions, but also create anticipation and joy before the trip. One of his early furniture creations was The Organic Chair, which was created together with Charles Eames, and similar to Eames, Saarinen worked with plywood and plastic. The Tulip Chair has a strong likeness to the design winning Organic Chair, and Eero Saarinen designed it between 1955 and 1956 for Knoll. Design awards such as the Design Center Stuttgart Award, 1962, the Museum of Modern Art Award, 1969 and the Federal Award for Industrial Design, 1969 cemented the Tulip series as an eternal classic.

The Barcelona Chair - Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe föddes i tyska Preussen, och var den sista ledaren för tyska designinstitutionen Bauhaus, innan han under 1930-talet flydde Europa som följd av det politiska läget. En stor del av hans storhetstid att präglas av åren i Amerika, där han undervisade vid the Illinois Institute of Technology i Chicago. Stora namn som bland annat Florence Knoll studerade under honom. ”Mies”, som han i folkmun ofta kallades, satte tonen för betydande inslag i nordamerikansk arkitektur med verk som One Charles Center i Baltimore, Indiana University campus in Bloomington och 860–880 Lake Shore Drive i Chicago. Han kom att mynta eviga uttryck för god stil som "less is more" och "god is in the details", vilket tydligt framgår av hans minimalistiskt rena designspråk. The Barcelona Chair ovan blev en av de designer som Florence Knoll fick ensamrätt att producera, och den är än idag en av världens mest välkända designmöbler.

Eames Lounge Chair - Charles och Ray Eames

Charles and Ray Eames are known for the heaviest names when it comes to North American design, and it's hard to name just one of their creations. The pair’s Lounge Chair over the years, however, became one of the most influential pieces of furniture in their product portfolio. Charles Ormond Eames, Jr. (1907–1978) and Bernice Alexandra "Ray" Kaiser Eames, were active in architecture, industrial and graphic design as well as film and art. They were close friends with father and son Eliel and Eero Saarinen. For over four decades, they ran "The Eames Office" in Los Angeles. A collective of creators that included names such as Don Albinson and Harry Bertoia. Through their innovative and timeless design, "Eames" became synonymous with good design, and a given element in most well-decorated American houses and homes. Moulded plywood is a strong hallmark of Eames' design.

The Aeron Chair - Donald T. Chadwick

The Aeron Chair is perhaps one of the most familiar pieces of designer furniture for office environments. Although strongly associated with the name Herman Miller, the designer behind the design is architect Don Chadwick. The chair is a very young icon, designed in 1994, and really embodies a essence of good design where aesthetics meets ergonomics and usability in a symbiosis which to the same extent is found in very few chairs. In 2000, The Aeron Chair was awarded the "Design of the Decade" award by Businessweek magazines and Industrial Designers Society of America, which definitely contributed to its fame.

Orgy Sofa - Karim Rashid

“Karim Rashid”, perhaps you are wondering? Design classic? In this context, we must remember that all names here were young once, and the key to consuming good design is to recognise it even before it becomes a name even children know. Egyptian-born Rashid is a definitive author of future classics, as a regular winner of the Red Dot Award, Chicago Athenaeum Good Design Award, I. D. Magazine Annual Design Review, IDSA Industrial Design Excellence award. With honorary doctorates at both OCAD, Toronto and Corcoran College of Art & Design, Washington, Rashid's repertoire spans categories such as interior design, furniture, packaging and products. If you want to immerse yourself in a piece of design history in the making, we strongly suggest that you visit karimrashid.com.