Isamu Noguchi Cyclone Side Table

Founded in 1938, Knoll uses modern design to connect people to their work, their lives, their world. Throughout its history, by embracing the creative genius at the Bauhaus School and the Cranbrook Academy of Art, Knoll has been recognized for creating residential and workplace furnishings that inspire, evolve, and endure. Today, Knoll’s commitment to modern design and dedication to sustainability have yielded a unique portfolio of products that continue to respond and adapt to changing needs.

Knoll has always remained true to the Bauhaus design philosophy that modern furniture should complement architectural space, not compete with it. At Knoll, modern design has been the guiding principle, and a passion shared by customers and design professionals worldwide. 

Isamu Noguchi left Columbia University as a pre-med student to pursue his art full time. Noguchi supported himself early on by sculpting portrait busts, leading him to meet famed dance choreographer Martha Graham. The fortuitous meeting led to a 30-year collaboration, with Noguchi designing and transposing mythological elements into abstract form for his visionary sets and costumes for The Martha Graham Dance Company.

In the 1940s, Noguchi began to experiment in furniture design. One of his designs, a rocking stool with a unique wire base, caught the eye of Hans Knoll who introduced the design, with a matching table, in 1955. Using Noguchi’s original drawings, and in collaboration with the Noguchi Foundation, Knoll reintroduced the tables in 2003.

Although he developed products for Zenith, Steuben Glassworks, Herman Miller, Vitra, and Knoll, Isamu Noguchi is not defined by his industrial design. He is most remembered as a sculptor, landscape artist, and set designer. His work, including his famous stone sculptures, can be seen at the Isamu Noguchi Museum in Long Island City, New York.