The Diamond chair, which Italian-born sculptor, university lecturer and furniture designer Harry Bertoia designed for Knoll in 1952, was a true stroke of genius.
Harry Bertoia (1915–1978) was an inventor of forms who enriched furniture design by introducing a new material: he turned industrial wire rod into a design icon. After studying at Detroit Technical High School, the Detroit School of Arts and Crafts and the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, USA, Bertoia taught metalcraft at Cranbrook.
Together with Charles Eames, he developed the signature moulded plywood chairs. Eero Saarinen commissioned him to design a sculpted metal screen for the General Motors Technical Center in Detroit in the USA. His awards include the Craftsmanship Medal of the American Institute of Architects and the AIA Gold Medal.
