Test your Design IQ
MANILA, Philippines - Who is the prominent 20th century Finnish-American architect and industrial designer known for his Tulip Chair, which became the basis of seating used in the original Star Trek TV series?
He was born in Hvittrask, Finland on August 20, 1910, and emigrated to the United States with his family at the age of 13 in 1923. He grew up in the community of the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan, where he took courses in sculpture and furniture. He went on the study sculpture at the Academie de la Grande Chaumiere in Paris, and later at the Yale School of Architecture, where he completed his studies in 1934.
He first received critical recognition for a chair designed with Charles Eames for the Organic Design in Home Furnishings competition in 1940. The Tulip Chair became the basis of the seating used in the original Star Trek series, and like all his other designs was taken into production by the Knoll furniture company.
During his long association with Knoll, he designed
The Grasshopper lounge chair and ottoman (1946), the Womb chair and ottoman (1948), the Womb settee, side, and armchairs, and of course the Tulip or pedestal group, which features side and arm chairs, dining, coffee, and side tables, as well as a stool.
His first major work, in collaboration with his father, was the General Motors Technical Center in Warren, Michigan. It follows the rationalist Miesian style: incorporating steel and glass, but with the other accent of panels in two shades of blue.
which is fondly referred to as “the Whale.”
The architectural firm he established in the 1950s carried out many important works like the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial in St. Louis Missouri, the TWA Flight Center at the John F, Kennedy International Airport, and the Dulles International Airport near Washington, DC.
Now considered one of the masters of 20th-century American architecture, he developed a remarkable range that depended on color, form, and materials. While he showed a remarkable dependence on innovative structures and sculptural forms, this was not at the cost of pragmatic considerations. He easily moved back and forth between the International Style and Expressionism, utilizing a vocabulary of curves and cantilevered forms.
He died in Ann Arbor, Michigan in 1961.
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Last week’s question: Who is the award-winning American chef, restaurateur, cookbook author and TV personality who, together with her collaborator Mary Sue Miliiken, is considered to be a leading authority on Latin cuisine in the US?
Answer: Susan Feniger
Winner: Blesilda Pascual of Cainta
Text your answer to 0927-9148817 with your name and address. One winner will be chosen through a raffle of texts with the correct answer. The winner will receive P2,000 worth of SM gift certificates for use at Our Home, SM Department Store, or SM Supermarket. They can claim their prize at Our Home in SM Megamall. Call Roma Cortes or Apple Caballes at 634-1951, 634-1952. Bring photocopies of two valid IDs and a clipping of the Design Quiz issue in which you appear as winner.
