Originally known as the 600 Series, the Risom Collection was the first furniture ever commissioned and manufactured by the Hans Knoll Furniture Company. Knowing that the war would disrupt his supply lines, Hans Knoll sought a designer to develop original furniture that could be produced locally in New York. Serendipitously, Jens Risom was looking for a salesman to promote his work. They found each other in 1941, and Risom designed a complete line of simple modern chairs, tables and storage that could be made locally, with materials not limited by wartime supply restrictions.
Risom’s approach was perfectly suited for the challenge: “Design is a creative effort to successfully solve problems; ‘good design,’ therefore, is a ‘good solution’ which must satisfy the many requirements.” The resulting furniture, which Risom described as “very basic, very simple, inexpensive, easy to make” was made from offcast wood and discarded nylon webbing from parachute factories. Three-quarters of a century later, the Risom Collection has been reimagined for the outdoors in the same spirit with which it was originally created.
