Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe   LUDWIG MIES VAN DER ROHE
(1886-1969)
 
BIRTHPLACE: Germany 
PROFESSION: Architect
PRODUCTS: Barcelona® collection, Brno chairs, Tugendhat chair, MR table, lounge seating and side chair
 
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe began his career working in his father's stonemasonry business. After an apprenticeship to furniture designer Bruno Paul in Berlin, he joined the office of architect Peter Behrens, whose work presaged the modern movement. In 1912, Mies established his own office in Berlin, and later became a member of the Deutscher Werkbund and Director of the Bauhaus. He immigrated to the United States, setting up a practice in Chicago in 1938. His buildings include the German Pavilion for the 1929 Barcelona Exposition, the Tugendhat Villa in Brno, Czechoslovakia, the Seagram Building, designed with Philip Johnson, a cluster of residential towers along Chicago's Lakeshore Drive in Chicago, and the Illinois Institute of Technology campus.

   
 

  
Designer-Emanuela Frattini.   EMANUELA FRATTINI
(1959-)
 
BIRTHPLACE: Italy
PROFESSION: Architect
PRODUCTS: Propeller® Conference Tables, Propeller® Rolling Cart, Propeller® Training Tables

Emanuela Frattini studied architecture at the Politecnico di Milano, and holds a doctorate in the field. Prior to establishing her own New York office and in 1989 founding EFM, she practiced in the firms of Gianfranco Frattini (her father), Matteo Thun and Charles Pfister. She has designed offices for Knoll International Holdings, Inc., and several Knoll showrooms, as well as restoring and renovating a Frank Lloyd Wright house. She has also designed leather goods for Spinneybeck and a collection for Steuben Glass. In addition to her practice, Frattini, the wife of Knoll design director Carl Magnusson, contributes to professional journals, including Domus, Casa Vogue Italia and Ottagono.


  

  
Designer-Harry Bertoia  

HARRY BERTOIA 
(1915-1978)
  
BIRTHPLACE: Italy
PROFESSION: Sculptor
PRODUCTS: Bertoia Barstool, Bertoia Bench, Bertoia Bird High-Back Chair, Bertoia Chairs, Bertoia Diamond Lounge Chair, Bertoia Side Chair
  
Educated at Detroit Technical High School, the Detroit School of Arts and Crafts and Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, Harry Bertoia taught metal crafts at Cranbrook. He worked with Charles Eames to develop his signature molded plywood chairs. Eero Saarinen commissioned him to design a metal sculptured screen for the General Motors Technical Center in Detroit. He was awarded the craftsmanship medal by the American Institute of Architects, from which he also received the gold medal.