Designers

Harry Bertoia welded metal rods into chairs that were mostly empty space, then discovered they sang when the wind hit them. From jewelry-making teenager to furniture designer to accidental musician.

George Nelson became the most influential figure in American modernism by writing articles, recruiting designers, and putting his name on everything his studio created. He didn't design most of it. That was the genius.

Isamu Noguchi created a coffee table after someone stole his design, then voluntarily entered an internment camp. His paper lanterns still glow in living rooms worldwide, and nobody realizes they're looking at functional sculpture.

Mies van der Rohe transformed steel and glass into monuments of clarity. From the Barcelona Chair to the Seagram Building, discover the stonemason's son who defined architectural modernism.