Vintage Modular Sofa by Friedrich Hill for Walter Knoll 1970s
View Similar Items
Vintage Modular Sofa by Friedrich Hill for Walter Knoll 1970s
About the Item
- Creator:Walter Knoll (Manufacturer)
- Dimensions:Height: 26.78 in (68 cm)Width: 125.99 in (320 cm)Depth: 68.9 in (175 cm)Seat Height: 15.75 in (40 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 5
- Style:Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1970s
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Vienna, AT
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU5244228177572
Walter Knoll
Inspired by the Bauhaus — founded in 1919 by Walter Gropius — Walter Knoll decided to bet big on modernism. He launched his eponymous German furniture maker in 1925, and the company has been going strong ever since.
Most design lovers are familiar with Knoll, the manufacturer of furniture by Eero Saarinen, Harry Bertoia, Marcel Breuer, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and other modernist giants. It was founded by Hans Knoll in 1941 and led after his death by his wife, Florence Knoll, the doyenne of postwar American office interiors. In recent years, the company has added collections by Maya Lin, Rem Koolhaas, Frank Gehry and David Adjaye, among others, and encouraged customers to do what some of them had been doing all along: use Knoll’s “office furniture” at home.
Fewer Americans are familiar with Walter Knoll, the company Hans’s father founded in Stuttgart, Germany, in 1925 and later moved to nearby Herrenberg. That company has existed in the shadow of the larger U.S.-based Knoll for decades.
Both companies descended from the German manufacturer of ornate leather goods established by Wilhelm Knoll in 1866. In 1907, Wilhelm’s sons, Willy and Walter, took over the father’s business and started producing leather club chairs. Five years later, the company introduced its Nestra line of stripped-down wood and leather seating, foreshadowing the family’s future innovations.
In 1925, when he was 50, Walter Knoll launched the Walter Knoll Company, which soon released the revolutionary Prodomo line of chairs, whose upholstered seats and backs are supported by tubular metal frames. Other lightweight Walter Knoll pieces were used in the passenger compartment of the Hindenburg zeppelin.
In 1927, Walter Knoll furnished five apartments designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe for the Weissenhof Estate, 21 prototypes of “workers’ housing of the future” constructed as part of an exhibition in Stuttgart. A decade later, Walter’s son Hans, then 24, traveled to the United States to market his father’s furniture and to make a new life for himself in the New World. But inspired by his encounters with Jens Risom — a Danish-born designer who furthered Scandinavian modernism in the United States — Hans broke away from Walter, creating Knoll Associates (now known simply as Knoll). Florence Schust (later to become Hans’s wife) joined him in the company in 1943, and soon they were working with mid-century modern icons such as Saarinen and Bertoia on new designs and licensing Mies’s Barcelona chair.
After the war, with his factories destroyed and labor and materials in short supply, Walter Knoll turned to Hans for help. Hans sent over several pieces from his Vostra line, designed by Risom. Walter replaced the web seats with upholstery and launched his version of the Vostra at the New Living exhibition in Cologne in 1949. It became hugely successful, persuading many Germans still accustomed to traditional furniture to give modernism a go.
Walter Knoll retired in 1964, but his namesake firm continued growing in Germany. Just like the American Knoll, Walter Knoll has found that some customers want to use pieces originally meant as office furniture in their houses. In fact, these pieces give living and dining rooms a crispness that almost no residential furniture can match.
Find vintage Walter Knoll lounge chairs, sofas, tables and other furniture on 1stDibs.
- Mid-Century Modular Sofa by Friedrich Hill for Walter KnollBy Brayton International, Walter KnollLocated in Raleigh, NCOriginal leather six piece modular sofa. This Plus 144 model sofa was designed by Friedrich Hill for the Walter Knoll Collection and produced b...Category
Vintage 1970s American Mid-Century Modern Sectional Sofas
MaterialsLeather, Fabric, Foam
- Large German Modular Sofa by Walter KnollBy Walter KnollLocated in Los Angeles, CALarge German modular sofa by Walter Knoll.Category
Mid-20th Century German Sofas
MaterialsFabric
- Walter Knoll Vintage Modular Grey Buffallo Leather Lounge Sofa, Germany, 1970By Walter KnollLocated in Munich, BavariaThis stunning Modular sectional leather sofa was manufactured by Walter Knoll in Germany. It is a pure 70ties design with timeless modern shape. The seating shape is likely round for...Category
Vintage 1970s German Modern Sofas
MaterialsLeather, Upholstery, Plastic, Wood
- Strips Modular Sofa by Cini Boeri for Arflex, 1970sBy Cini Boeri, ArflexLocated in amstelveen, NLStrips sofa designed by Cini Boeri for Arflex in the late 1960s. One of the most famous products of Arflex. Designed in 1968, it was awarded the price Compasso d’Oro and it is displa...Category
Vintage 1970s European Mid-Century Modern Sofas
MaterialsCotton, Linen, Polyester
$12,427 Sale Price20% Off - Sistema 61 Modular Sofa by Giancarlo Piretti for Castelli, Italy, 1970sBy Giancarlo PirettiLocated in Rotterdam, NLModular 'Sistema 61' sofa by Giancarlo Piretti for Castelli, Italy 1970s. Innovative system consisting of four seating elements, 5 back - armrests and two c...Category
Vintage 1970s Italian Mid-Century Modern Sofas
MaterialsFabric
- Sistema 61 Modular Sofa by Giancarlo Piretti for Anonima Castelli, 1970sBy Giancarlo Piretti, Anonima CastelliLocated in amstelveen, NLModular sofa, Sistema 61, Giancarlo Piretti, Anonima Castelli, 1970s Seven seats with backrest upholstered in its original grey wool. The seats are conn...Category
Vintage 1970s European Mid-Century Modern Sofas
MaterialsAbalone, Wool