J H I Blog

Freshly uncrated today in our entry/conference are two stunning Bertoia Diamond Chairs manufactured by Knoll.

These unique chairs are the 1952 visionary brainchild of the Italian-born designer and elegant metal sculptor, Harry Bertoia. They are iconic; they define an era. And, they not only look great, they are surprisingly comfortable.

We believe that great design never goes out of style, and no one embraces the application of this concept better than the Italians. I love to lose myself in old monochromatic photographs of post-war Italian residential interiors where finely detailed and crafted baroque furniture communicates so warmly with Art Deco of the 30’s, imposing 1940’s fascist design sensibility, and the fanciful Carlo Molino designs of the 1950’s.  I admire the lack of rigidity and the desegregation that creates a beautiful and harmonious stew of design passions.

The point is, that when you mix high quality design with high quality design, no matter when or where it was conceived, it always seems to mesh perfectly, and the net effect is an explosive, multi-directional, multi-level design experience. At J H I, we refer to it as “dimensional design”: design that pushes the viewer beyond the obvious and expected, and throws open the doors of emotional engagement.

No company has worked harder and longer than Knoll to honor the great design of the past and continuously create the furniture icons of the future. Knoll’s products live in the pantheon of manufacturing superstars, and, by definition, they are the essence of “timeless classic”, in vision, in detailing, in manufacturing.

Amazingly, for over 25 years, I have been sitting in a now worn and familiar old shoe of a Knoll desk chair designed by arguably the greatest of modern architects: Eero Saarinen. A while ago, I, like everyone else, fell under the spell of the wildly successful Aeron Chair. It didn’t take long before I returned to the comfort of my Saarinen Executive Conference Chair. No levers, no adjustable lumbar, no special tilt angles or space age fabric. Amazing, I still find myself looking at it and wondering just what is it about this quiet, confident, unassuming piece of furniture that makes it so enduringly comfortable?” Could it be as simple and yet as complex as: Good Design?