The prospect of retirement doesn’t just signal the end of a career; it offers the chance to recalibrate and re-prioritize in life.
Pay Attention in History Class and Design like the Masters
Take a lesson from these collaborations between academic institutions and design greats.
Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec
In 2012, the brothers Bouroullec collaborated with Danish company Hay on wooden furniture for the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Copenhagen. Inspired by a Bernt Petersen–designed trestle chair that they saw at the university, the updated seat design—in which two halves meet at an exaggerated, elegant seam—is fittingly reminiscent of an open book. Both chair and table are available in soap-treated beech and stained or lacquered oak.
Fritz Flötotto
The Formsitz chair, developed by the company Flötotto for German schools in 1956, features a patented seat made of “pagwood”: beech veneers soaked in resins and treated to develop characteristics of plastic. (A contemporary polypropylene version of Fritz Flötotto’s original chair was designed for the company in 2012 by Konstantin Grcic.) For efficient classroom sweeping, the Formsitz chair slides into brackets on the underside of the corresponding wood desk, also from 1956.
Eero Saarinen
The junior Saarinen’s debut as a furniture designer—at age 20—came with a commission for most of the furnishings at Cranbrook’s Kingswood Middle School for Girls in Michigan. (His father, Eliel, designed the campus.) His 1930 auditorium armchair, made of tubular chromed steel and wood with light-green woven upholstery, has a cantilevered seat, like Mies van der Rohe’s Brno chair from the same year.
Courtesy of
R.H Hensleigh
Robin and Lucienne Day
Churchill College at the University of Cambridge commissioned Robin Day for the first time in 1962 for dining room furniture. The results yielded additional projects for himself and his wife, Lucienne, a textile designer. Robin’s black leather Club settees and armchairs and black vinyl–covered Interplan desks and tables still outfit the Senior Combination Room today.
Courtesy of
Churchill Archive by kind permission of Carillion Day
Marcel Breuer
Some of Marcel Breuer’s earlier experiments found a home in his 1938 commission from Bryn Mawr College—just as students found a home in the newly built Rhoads Hall, outfitted with desks, chairs, dressers, mirrors, and bookshelves of his design. The L-shaped chair, for example, continued Breuer’s experiments with cutout plywood.
Today’s classrooms have begun using flexible furniture systems for active learning. The mobile Node chair by Thomas Overthun and IDEO for Steelcase sports a height-adjustable seat, a storage base, and a southpaw-friendly swiveling work surface
Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec
In 2012, the brothers Bouroullec collaborated with Danish company Hay on wooden furniture for the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Copenhagen. Inspired by a Bernt Petersen–designed trestle chair that they saw at the university, the updated seat design—in which two halves meet at an exaggerated, elegant seam—is fittingly reminiscent of an open book. Both chair and table are available in soap-treated beech and stained or lacquered oak.
Latest Articles
You don’t have to choose between sustainable energy and curb appeal.
July 19, 2016
Each week, we tap into Dwell's Instagram community to bring you the most captivating design and architecture shots of the week.
July 06, 2016
Each week, we tap into Dwell's Instagram community to bring you the most captivating design and architecture shots of the week.
June 29, 2016
Docomomo US announces the winners of this year's Modernism in America Awards. Each project showcases exemplary modern restoration techniques, practices, and ideas.
June 27, 2016
After last year’s collaboration, we were excited to team up with Monogram again for the 2016 Monogram Modern Home Tour.
June 27, 2016
A strategic rewire enhances a spec house’s gut renovation.
June 26, 2016
Coralie Gourguechon's paper objects will make you see technology in a whole new way.
June 26, 2016
Smart technology helps a house in Aspen, Colorado, stay on its sustainable course.
June 25, 2016
The aesthetic appeal of personal electronics has long fueled consumer interest. A new industrial design book celebrates devices that broke the mold.
June 25, 2016
An angled deck transforms a backyard in Menlo Park, California, into a welcoming gathering spot.
June 24, 2016
Today, we kicked off this year’s annual Dwell on Design at the LA Convention Center, which will continue through Sunday, June 26th. Though we’ve been hosting this extensive event for years, this time around is particularly special.
June 24, 2016
Two designers restore a low-slung midcentury gem in Napa, California, by an unsung Bay Area modernist.
June 24, 2016
San Francisco–based designer Maca Huneeus created her family’s weekend retreat near Lake Tahoe with a relaxed, sophisticated sensibility.
June 24, 2016
A Toronto couple remodel their home with a special emphasis on a spacious kitchen and a material-rich bathroom.
June 24, 2016
In Kansas City, an architecture studio designs an adaptable house for a musician on a budget.
June 23, 2016
By straightening angles, installing windows, and adding vertical accents, architect Aaron Ritenour brought light and order to an irregularly shaped apartment in the heart of Athens, Greece.
June 23, 2016
A modest kitchen addition to a couple’s cottage outside of Brisbane proves that one 376-square-foot room can revive an entire home.
June 23, 2016
Each week, we tap into Dwell's Instagram community to bring you the most captivating design and architecture shots of the week.
June 22, 2016
A modern dwelling replaces a fallen farmhouse.
June 22, 2016
Seeking an escape from bustling city life, a Manhattan couple embarks on a renovation in the verdant Hudson Valley.
June 22, 2016
Atelier Moderno renovated an old industrial building to create a luminous, modern home.
June 21, 2016
Anchored in a small San Francisco canal, this floating home takes its cues from a classic city habitat.
June 21, 2016
From the bones of a neglected farmstead in rural Scotland emerges a low-impact, solar-powered home that’s all about working with what was already there.
June 21, 2016
An architect with a taste for unconventional living spaces creates a small house at lofty heights with a starring view.
June 21, 2016
Marjan Van Aubel makes technology a little more natural.
June 21, 2016
Building on the site of a former one-car garage, an architect creates his family’s home in an evolving neighborhood of Brooklyn.
June 20, 2016
In a Brooklyn backyard, an off-duty architect builds a structure that tests his attention to the little things.
June 20, 2016
In the suburbs of Paris, an architect with an eco-friendly practice doesn’t let tradition stand in the way of innovation.
June 20, 2016
Join the Discussion