How can a global leader in commercial furniture and an American architect of international repute launch a new series years after said architect’s passing? The answer goes back to 1938, to a notable end user inviting Steelcase to make a building’s worth of furniture from a few scribbles on scrap paper by their architect.
Sound unlikely? Not when the architect was Frank Lloyd Wright, the client was SC Johnson, and the client’s project was a new headquarters building in Racine, Wisconsin.
When Steelcase’s David Hunting, then the firm’s president, met with SC Johnson representatives and Mr. Wright about the furniture, he initially received neither drawings nor plans. Mr. Hunting left with Mr. Wright’s “definite ideas” about what he wanted, and his impromptu sketches on scrap paper. As a closing comment to their meeting, the architect said, “This is about what I’d like.”
Mr. Hunting’s remarks come from “Frank Lloyd Wright and the Johnson Wax Buildings” by Jonathan Lipman. He conveys how Steelcase collaborated with the architect in leading the furniture project to a successful outcome.
In Mr. Hunting’s telling, Mr. Wright wanted “furniture to reflect the columns’ treatment of cantilevers, round surfaces, and light base supports,” with bases narrowing close to the floor in contrast to the large bases of the day.
The furniture design Mr. Wright described was unlike anything Mr. Hunting’s company had built before or anything seen by the client, SC Johnson. Mr. Lipman’s book tells the story of the architect’s sketches becoming a reality.
At the client’s request, Mr. Hunting “had Steelcase’s engineering department make some preliminary sketches. Mr. Wright repeatedly corrected their drawings until he was satisfied.” With a final version adapted, SC Johnson engaged Steelcase in June 1938 to produce furniture for its headquarters building. From the building’s opening in 1939, praise for its concept, design, and execution poured in, with the Great Workroom and its innovative furnishings earning special notice.
Eighty-four years on, Steelcase previewed furniture from the SC Johnson project reinterpreted to current times in their showroom during NeoCon 2022 at theMART. The line’s name honors where this landmark building stands and continues to function, as well as the site of the initial meeting between maker and architect. It’s called the Frank Lloyd Wright Racine Collection by Steelcase.
“We consider ourselves to be stewards of the Frank Lloyd Wright legacy,” said Meghan Dean, Steelcase’s Director of Product Marketing for Partnerships. The Racine Collection is the first product line in what Ms. Dean said will be an ongoing relationship with the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation.
An instance of two minds thinking alike set plans for a relationship in motion. It happened during a telephone call between Stuart Graff, the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation’s President and CEO, and Allan Smith, Steelcase’s Senior Vice President, Chief Revenue Officer. Both entertained thoughts of a partnership between their organizations.
“Our mutual interests expanded into a broader discussion about applying Frank Lloyd Wright’s design principles to work today,” said Mr. Graff. His premise was bringing the past forward as inspiration for the future. “I brought this to Allan as something Steelcase might want to explore, to which he replied, ‘I wanted to ask if we could pursue that very thing.’”
The collection previewed at NeoCon 2022 included what’s called the signature desk having worksurfaces on two tiers, with a third-tier option for available paper flow accessories. Ms. Dean suggests those familiar with Mr. Wright’s work will instantly recognize this model.
“We had access to the original drawings, which was a gift to us as product developers by enabling us to start at a place of such authenticity,” said Ms. Dean. The Steelcase team deeply understood the scrutiny their interpretations of Wright’s concepts would receive.
“Our product development team took the task extremely seriously,” said Ms. Dean. “The integrity of the design was the most important thing to us as well as keeping the integrity of Wright’s vision.”
Given that Steelcase worked alongside Mr. Wright to develop, refine, and engineer his furniture concept, and the partnership with the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, there’s no firm better qualified for reinterpreting the original designs.
With their reinterpretation, Steelcase maintained the original aesthetic by gently nudging dimensions and proportions. Increasing the knee space clearance is an example. “As originally designed, the desk would accommodate just 30% of American men,” said Ms. Dean.
The signature desk comes in different sizes, with one model dimensioned for work-from-home settings. There’s also a single-tiered utility table that Ms. Dean thinks of as a writing desk or console table. Photographs of the Great Workroom show tables of similar design used individually and in creating U-shaped configurations.
What comes next? Ms. Dean and Mr. Graff look to bring the vision of Frank Lloyd Wright forward, rather than making historical reproductions of what he designed during his life and times.
His birth in 1867 fell in the shadows of America’s Civil War, when steam drove transportation on water and rail, with horses providing transport on land. By his death in 1959, jet-powered aircraft flew passengers and freight across continents at 600 miles-per-hour. Between his birth and death lay the works of Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, the Wright Brothers, and Henry Ford, among other innovators and inventors.
Mr. Wright’s significant contribution, as cited by the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, was his “passionate devotion” toward defining a “truly American architecture.” His approach created a “total environment”, integrating a structure’s form and materials with its surroundings, and rooms with their furnishings. Such thinking during his years of practice presages sustainable design concepts of the present day.
With a formal introduction of the Racine Collection in the offing and mutual interest in future collaborations, what further Wright-inspired offerings might emerge from Steelcase and the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation is an open question of fascinating dimensions.
Stephen Witte’s roles in the design industry include journalist, writer, exhibit producer, product developer, and filmmaker. Reach him at stephenmwitte@gmail.com