George Nakashima

George Nakashima was a Japanese-American woodworker, architect, and furniture maker who was one of the leading innovators of 20th century furniture design and a father of the American craft movement. He graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a masters in architecture in 1930 and then worked as a mural painter and architectural designer in New York. In 1945 Nakashima opened his own studio in Pennsylvania, employing some of the worlds finest craftsmen, who remain devoted to the man and his ideas. He designed a series of furniture for Knoll in 1946 which included the Splay Leg Coffee Table and the Straight Chair.