Knoll Charles Pfister Lounge Chairs, Chocolate Rohleder Velvet, a Pair

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Sold as a pair, 2 pairs available.

Some chairs try too hard. These don't try at all, and that's exactly … Read more Sold as a pair, 2 pairs available.

Some chairs try too hard. These don't try at all, and that's exactly the point. Originally designed in 1971 and produced here in 1974, this pair of Pfister cube chairs for Knoll have that rare quality of looking incredible without trying at all. Kind of like that friend we all love to hate who just rolls out of bed looking like a supermodel-- no makeup necessary. Perfect squares, four stubby steel legs, and a silhouette so architectural it practically comes with blueprints. They don't lean mid century or contemporary. They just stand there, smugly compatible with both.

Expertly reupholstered in chocolate Rohleder velvet, so plush and rich it borders on edible. These two sets have been given a second act that honors their original bones while feeling completely current. The proportions do the heavy lifting: boxy, grounded, and yet somehow floating on those slim steel feet like they're too important to actually touch the floor. Put one in a Case Study living room, put one in a glass-and-concrete loft, put one in your swanky office. It will make a statement every time.

Condition is spectacular. This isn't "good for its age," this is "good, period."

Charles Pfister (1939-1990)

Charles Pfister received a B.A. in Architecture from the University of California, and he built his reputation the old-fashioned way: by being extremely good at his job. He began his career as an architect at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill in San Francisco, and his corporate interior work caught the eye of Florence Knoll herself, who insisted he direct her bank project at SOM, where he went on to lead the interiors group for fifteen years. Not a bad reference to have.
Pfister Armchair - Relax +2

He created the Pfister Lounge Collection for Knoll starting in 1971, and it's still one of the more quietly confident designs in Knoll's catalog. His whole philosophy amounted to "restrained elegance," and he wasn't shy about explaining why: he believed there was a movement away from a throw-away society and disposable possessions, toward useful, sculptural, wonderfully constructed objects, and that such objects are a triumph in any setting. Say what you want about the 1970s, but that's a mission statement that's aged better than most.

He eventually left to start his own award-winning firm with offices in San Francisco and London, and racked up global commissions including headquarters for Royal Dutch Shell in The Hague, Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt, Citicorp in London, and United Overseas Bank in Singapore. So yes, the guy who designed your armchair also designed bank lobbies on three continents.

Knoll needs no introduction to anyone who's spent five minutes around good furniture, but here's the short version anyway: founded in 1938 and shaped early on by Florence Knoll's radical idea that interiors should be designed with the same rigor as architecture, the company became the de facto furniture arm of American modernism. Saarinen, Bertoia, Mies van der Rohe, and eventually Pfister all passed through its roster, turning Knoll into less of a furniture company and more of a design movement with a manufacturing division attached.

Rohleder Textiles ~ Far from the hectic pace of any big city, in the Upper Franconian town of Konradsreuth, sits one of Europe's leading and most modern furniture fabric houses: Hitex-Manufaktur Rohleder. Founded in 1946 and now run by its second generation, the mill has spent decades quietly supplying the fabric behind the world's most discerning upholstery, with its textiles appearing in the collections of nearly every notable fabric publisher and editor across Europe, the US, and the Middle and Far East. Translation: if a chair looks this good in velvet, there's a solid chance Rohleder is the reason.

These chairs are currently pared with a Milo Baughman sofa as well as a Van der Rohe coffee table and not only do they make a statement, they really steal the show! And did I mention comfort?? 10/10 Would recommend! See less