Metallic taste: Warren Platner dining table
29th November 2007
Springs and wires in furniture are usually hidden from sight, like the metal coils that lie way beneath the upholstery of a chair or sofa. But not all designers think that way – and what they’ve come up with in recent history have contributed to the variety in visual and tactile experiences in today’s contemporary bistro furniture, hotel furnishings, restaurant seating, etc.
Take, for instance, the Platner Dining Table. Created by American designer Warren Platner in the 1960s, a decade famous for social experimentation among others, it certainly doesn’t look like your ordinary bar or restaurant table. The table’s frame features vertical steel wire rods that are welded to a circular and edge-framing rod. The vertical steel wire rods are finished in bright nickel and are protected in clear lacquer. The clear plastic extrusion ring of the table’s base makes for a bottom surface that looks and feels smooth. It’s certainly modern-looking, almost futuristic in fact. Looking at the mesh steel base, I can only wonder at how difficult or complicated it must have been to produce during those days. The table measures 70 cm high and the table top has a diameter of 135 cm and is manufactured by Knoll.
In addition to his furniture designs, Warren Platner is also known for his installations, one of the most notable of which were the interiors and lighting of the now-gone Windows on the World Restaurant, which was located at the top of the World Trade Center in New York City.
Platner collaborated with other design luminaries, notably I.M. Pei, Eero Saarinen and Raymond Loewy. According to him, he wanted a contemporary version of the grace that characterized certain earlier periods, particularly during the Louis XV era. Does the Platner Dining Table meet Platner’s own definition of a “classic?” He certainly believes so. As many have said, how else can you improve on perfection?
