Known primarily for his iconic 1960s modernist contribution to the Knoll furniture collection, Warren Platner (1919-2006) would find his way into the world of interior design by way of architecture. Born in Baltimore and graduating from Cornell University, he went on to work under I.M. Pei, Eero Saarinen, and Kevin Roche, where he designed the interior of the Ford Foundation headquarters to critical acclaim. Later projects include the Georg Jensen Design Center (1968), the Water Tower Place mall in Chicago (1976), the interior of the Windows on the World restaurant in New York (1976), and a later renovation of the Pan Am building (1986).

The furniture he designed for Knoll, however, would be his most enduring entry into the canon of modern design. Recognized for their sleek and simple silhouettes, his pieces embody a quiet exuberance, both aesthetically versatile and an engineering feat of functional comfort. Released in 1966, his nickel-plated steel wire designs forced Knoll to change the ways they did their welding. Today, they live on as true modernist classics that work seamlessly in almost any interior.