Warren Platner, Designer
Bill Schenley
FROM: The New York Times
By Stuart Lavietes
Photo:
http://www.completelymodern.com/images/atoz/05_10_04_255.jpg
Warren Platner, an architect and designer who created a furniture
collection that has proved to be an enduring icon of 1960's Modernism
and designed several prominent interiors in New York, including
offices for the Ford Foundation building and the original Windows on
the World restaurant, died on Monday in New Haven, Conn. He was 86 and
lived in Guilford, Conn.
The cause was complications of spinal meningitis, said his daughter
Jody Platner.
Mr. Platner, who worked in the firms of Eero Saarinen and Kevin Roche
in the early and mid-1960's, introduced his collection of chairs,
ottomans and tables in 1966. Produced by Knoll, each piece rests on a
sculptural base of nickel-plated steel rods resembling a shiny sheaf
of wheat.
The collection has been in continuous production since its
introduction. Prototypes were sold at auction in March, signaling
growing interest by collectors of Mid-Century Modern design.
Mr. Platner was also busy on another standout Modern design in the
mid-1960's: the headquarters of the Ford Foundation, at 320 East 43rd
Street, near Second Avenue in Manhattan. Designed by Mr. Roche and
opened in 1967, that steel, granite and glass building, with its
soaring central garden, epitomized the confident, optimistic outlook
of the Great Society.
As the head of interior design at Mr. Roche's firm, Mr. Platner
created office spaces that were flexible, understated and efficient.
He chose a rich, quiet color scheme to create a warm environment and
installed custom-made furniture designed to eliminate unnecessary
effort. Ergonomic desks included built-in telephones and special
compartments for files and office machines.
Mr. Platner opened his own firm in Connecticut in 1965 while
continuing to work on the Ford Foundation building. One of his first
solo projects was the New York showroom for Georg Jensen, the high-end
seller of Scandinavian furniture and lighting, called the Georg Jensen
Design Center. It opened in 1968.
More familiar to the public was his design for Windows on the World,
which opened at the World Trade Center in 1976. Resembling the
interior of an ocean liner, the main dining room was elaborately
terraced to provide views for every table, intimate seating and a
sense of drama. Paul Goldberger, then the architecture critic of The
New York Times, described the restaurant's lush interior, with its
soft pastels, fabric-covered walls and what seemed like miles of brass
railings, as an example of "sensuous modernism."
Joseph Warren Platner was born in Baltimore on June 18, 1919, and
graduated from Cornell University with a degree in architecture in
1941. He received the Rome Prize in architecture in 1955, and was
inducted into Interior Design magazine's hall of fame in 1985.
In addition to his daughter Jody Platner of New Haven, Mr. Platner is
survived by his wife, Joan Payne Platner; their other daughters,
Sharon Lincoln of Ledyard, Conn., and Madeleine Howenstine of
Killingworth, Conn.; their son, Bronson, of Ellsworth, Me.; 11
grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
Mr. Platner, who also created lighting fixtures, floor and window
coverings, furniture and architectural ornaments for clients,
completed many other notable projects, including the interior design
of Water Tower Place, the vertical shopping mall that opened in
Chicago in 1976, and the 1986 renovation of the Pan Am Building lobby
for its new owner, MetLife. He was still active in his firm, Warren
Platner Associates, until becoming ill earlier this year, working on
projects including a new shopping center in Greece.