Dezeen Magazine

Knoll reissues armchair by late Charles Pollock

American furniture brand Knoll has put a 1960s armchair by designer Charles Pollock back into production, following his death last year.

Pollock Arm Chair for Knoll

The Pollock Arm Chair – also known as the 657 Sling-back Lounge – was designed by Charles Pollock in 1960 and originally manufactured by Knoll between 1964 and 1979.

Its design features tubular steel legs with a polished chrome finish, which connect to cast-aluminium arms painted black.

Pollock Arm Chair for Knoll

The seat is formed from a sling of black belting leather, with a padded urethane cushion for added comfort.

The inception of the chair came after Pollock made prototypes from plumbing found in an abandoned basement and took the designs to Knoll.

Pollock Arm Chair for Knoll

"I brought all these prototypes in [to Knoll] without an appointment and pushed them off the elevator and said, 'I want to see Florence Knoll'," he is quoted in a statement from the brand.

"Fortunately for me, [senior designer] Vincent Cafiero came out just by accident, and he said, 'Who are you?' I said, 'I'm Charles Pollock.' I had had a major article in Interiors, in a series of articles about Saarinen, Eames, and myself about three or four months before, and he had read that," Pollock continued.

Pollock Arm Chair and Pollock Executive Chair for Knoll
Pollock Arm Chair (right) and Pollock Executive Chair for Knoll. Also main image

He explained that Cafiero told him to discard one idea and develop the other, and together they created a scale model of what was to become the 657 design.

Philadelphia-born Pollock died in a house fire last year, aged 83. His 1963 Executive Chair, also designed for Knoll, has become an iconic symbol of mid-20th century workplaces.