This height-adjustable table from 1927 is one of Eileen Gray's most rational designs and reflects her desire for functional perfection. Originally conceived as a bedside table for the guest room in Gray’s famous E. 1027 house in Cap Martin (her sister was fond of breakfast in bed), it is also useful as a side table in living rooms, office reception areas or on the terrace. Its purist aesthetic complements a wide range of furnishings and settings.

$170 at EuropeByNet, $199 at SteelClassic, $285 at ThisIsFurniture.com, $395 at DWR, $190 at BauhausShop.com, $273 at EurStyle.com. $750 (!) at MoMA.

Charles and Ray Eames conceived of this exceptionally comfortable chair as the 20th-century American answer to the Edwardian English Club Chair. The Lounge Chair stands out among their work for its unapologetic luxury and the level of handcraft required in its execution.

Charles Eames' aspirations for the chair were less lofty. He wanted it to have "the warm receptive look of a well used first baseman's mitt."

The first lounge chair, produced in 1956, was a birthday gift for friend Billy Wilder, the Academy Award-winning film director. Every lounge chair and accompanying ottoman manufactured since then has received the same meticulous handcrafted attention. Every one is a handsome refuge from the strains of modern living.

Probably the most widely recognized of all the Eames' furniture designs, the Eames lounge chair occupies a favored place in thousands of living rooms, studies, libraries, and dens, as well as in the permanent collection of New York's Museum of Modern Art

$1790 at SteelClassic, $1400 at DWR

Designed for the master bedroom at Hill House, Helensburg Scotland. It was meant to be used as a place to put hat and gloves - not for seating ! The Scottish architect and designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh regarded the space in and around furniture to be as important as the wood and upholstery. Originally painted white, Mackintosh's high, narrow Hill House chair was meant to be decorative -- not to be actually sat on. It was designed in 1902/3 for the publisher W.W. Blackie. The original still resides in the bedroom of the Hill House in Helensburgh.

A new breed of designers, the Modernists, rebelled against the concept of furniture that was merely decorative. Striving for functionality and universality, they worked to build a better chair.

$490 at SteelClassic, $490 at BauhausShop.com, $500 at steelform.com

A table with nothing to hide, and much to say. The Noguchi Table balances sculptural form with everyday function beautifully and harmoniously. It is an elegant embodiment of the concept that less is more. It demonstrates how simple elements can be combined to make a thoughtful artistic statement. It is furniture that encourages conversation as well as meditation.
"Everything is sculpture," said Isamu Noguchi. "Any material, any idea without hindrance born into space, I consider sculpture."

Noguchi believed the sculptor's task was to shape space, to give it order and meaning, and that art should "disappear," or be as one with its surroundings. Perhaps, it was his dual heritage—his father was a Japanese poet, his mother a Scottish-American writer—that resulted in his way of looking at the world with an eye for "oneness."

Unwilling and unable to be pigeonholed, Noguchi created sculptures that could be as abstract as Henri Moore's or as realistic as Leonardo's. He used any medium he could get his hands on: stone, metal, wood, clay, bone, paper, or a mixture of any or all—carving, casting, cutting, pounding, chiseling, or dynamiting away as each form took shape.

"To limit yourself to a particular style may make you an expert of that particular viewpoint or school, but I do not wish to belong to any school," he said. "I am always learning, always discovering."

His extraordinary range of projects included playgrounds and plazas, furniture and gardens, and stone-carved busts. His Akari paper lights were so delicate they could be folded and put into an envelope. He designed numerous stage sets for dancer-choreographer Martha Graham, who was as much an influence on him as was his mentor, Constantin Brancusi.

Noguchi was intelligent, articulate, and sensitive. During World War II, at a dark time in U.S. history, he voluntarily entered a relocation camp for Japanese-Americans in Arizona—and then was unable to get permission to leave. After seven months, he was granted liberation. "I was finally free," he said gratefully. "I resolved henceforth to be an artist only."

His relationship with Herman Miller came about when one of his designs was used to illustrate an article written by George Nelson called "How to Make a Table." It became his famous "coffee table," originally introduced in 1947 and reissued in 1984.

The Noguchi table is as appealing today as it was at its introduction. The perfect sculptural balance of a glass top resting on a gently curved wood base of natural or ebonized walnut does not compromise function.

Considered both a work of art and a piece of fine furniture, the table is made of just three pieces—a plate-glass top balanced on two curved, solid walnut legs that interlock to form a tripod for self-stabilizing support. The table, with its simple form and sculptural curves, adds striking elegance to offices and homes.

$600 at SteelClassic.com, $615 at ThisIsFurniture.com $680 at BauhausShop.com, $1200 (!) at MoMA.

$700 at BauhausShop.com, $2000 (!) at MoMA.

In Japanese, the word for light also implies weightlessness. Isamu Noguchi marries these two qualities in his magical Akari Lamps, expressing spirit and substance in light and form. Delicate yet strong, the lamps are handcrafted using washi paper made from the bark of the mulberry tree and shaped on a frame of higo bamboo ribbing. These pieces lend any space the sense of serenity and “imperfect” beauty that Noguchi sought to bring to the common experience of living.

$725 at DWR, $750 at MoMA.

This sculpted screen first evolved as a complement to the signature molded plywood furniture created by Charles and Ray Eames in the 1940s. It also stands alone, successful in its own right, to provide a striking backdrop to any furniture collection. Portable, yet durable, you can move the screen to instantly divide space and create privacy where desired.

Begun as an early experiment in molded plywood, this screen evolved into a complement to Charles and Ray Eames' other molded plywood creations—and as a stand-alone piece distinctive in its own right.

A portable divider of space and an instant provider of privacy, its sculpted, undulating form also makes it a striking backdrop to any furniture collection.

Originally connected by a synthetic adhesive developed during World War II, and then joined by canvas hinges, the sections of the screen are now connected by a durable woven polypropylene mesh held securely by a new process to ensure a longer life without compromising the integrity of the 1946 design.

Like so many of the designs of Charles and Ray Eames, their molded plywood folding screen blends simplicity with sophistication. A forthright, enduring design at home in both residential and business settings.

Charles and Ray loved their work, which was a combination of art and science, design and architecture, process and product, style and function. "The details are not details," said Charles. "They make the product."

$1,450 at DWR, $1,1215 at circa50, $1,400 at MoMA.

Gerrit Thomas Rietveld, born in Utrecht, Netherlands, in 1888 designed his Red and Blue chair in 1917. It marked the transition between the soft, organic curves of Art Nouveau and the sleek, crisp lines of Art Deco. The chair offers an interesting contrast between rest and motion. "We must remeber", Gerrit said, "that sit is a verb too."

Available at DWR

George Nelson's Slat Bench is one of the great icons of mid-century modernism. For Herman Miller's influential design director, utility was as important as beauty. His spare rectangular bench is proof. It serves equally well as table, platform base or seating, depending on need and situation. No wonder it's been called timeless, something this functional never dates.

Introduced in 1946 as part of George Nelson's first collection for Herman Miller, the platform bench, like many of his designs, has clean, rectilinear lines, reflecting Nelson's architectural background and his insistence on "honest" design.

As presented in the 1948 Herman Miller furniture catalog, "The platform bench is primarily a high base for deep and shallow cases, but it also serves as a low table for extra seating."

However it's used, the handsome platform bench sits well in living rooms, vestibules, libraries—with or without people or stereos or artwork on it. Its slats, spaced so that air and light pass through, are finished maple; the legs are finger-jointed for superior strength.

In 1945, Nelson designed the Storagewall, the first modular storage system and a forerunner of systems furniture. The Storagewall was showcased in a Life magazine article, causing a sensation in the furniture industry.

Herman Miller founder D.J. DePree saw the article and was so impressed that he paid a visit to Nelson in New York and convinced him to be his director of design. This spurred Nelson to found his design firm, George Nelson & Associates.

The warm personal and professional relationship between Nelson and DePree yielded a stunning range of products, from the playful marshmallow sofa to the first L-shaped desk, a precursor of today's workstation. It also yielded the platform bench.

Nelson once wrote that Herman Miller "is not playing follow-the-leader." That's one reason why George Nelson & Associates worked with Herman Miller for over 25 years as they shepherded design into the modern era

$399 at SteelClassic, $640 at DWR

$290 at SteelClassic, Available at DWR

$1490 at SteelClassic, $1,300 at DWR

Charles and Ray Eames conceived of this exceptionally comfortable chair as the 20th-century American answer to the Edwardian English Club Chair. The Lounge Chair stands out among their work for its unapologetic luxury and the level of handcraft required in its execution. The Eameses wanted the chair to have the warm receptive look of a well-used first-baseman's mitt, and the chair fulfills their objective with seductively soft, supple leather upholstery. Its trim lines make this high-style lounger smartly suited to the office as well as to the study. As with most of the Eames designs, this piece will last a lifetime. All parts are replaceable by Herman Miller.

$250 at DWR, $215 at circa50.

Like Nelson's Ball Clock (1949), the Marshmallow Sofa (1956) appears to be "exploded" into its separate parts and predates experiments with optics that would be explored by Pop artists in the '60s. The sofa derives its staying power from its formal qualities and the optimism that characterizes postwar design. Manufactured to the highest standards by Herman Miller Inc.

$2,550 at DWR

Verner Panton’s cantilevered stacking chair was the first single-material and single-form chair to be made and has been produced by Vitra through three decades of development in plastics technology. This version consists of a single piece of strong, flexible polypropylene with integral color that will not fade over time. As striking as modern sculpture, this classic piece is appropriately durable and easy to clean in cafés or restaurants, and is comfortable enough to use as an occasional chair in an office or residence.

$195 at DWR, $146 at Chiasso.

In spirit and stature, the Breuer Wassily has few equals. Marcel Breuer may not be as famous as his modernist contemporaries Mies van der Rohe and Le Corbusier, but he was certainly as brilliant a furniture designer, maybe even more so. The Wassily Chair (1925), the first bent tubular-steel chair ever, is a case in point. All first tries should be this good. (It was created for another pioneering genius, Wassily Kandinsky, the father of abstract painting, who was a close colleague of Breuer's at the Bauhaus.) As daring and fresh as Kandinsky's paintings, the Wassily Chair remains an astonishing work. Its strong, spare lines express all the industrial heroism and engineering invention of the new architecture. While formal and classic, its animated character brings life to any residence or office.
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$650 at DWR, $510 at EurStyle.com, $500 at modernclassics.com

The concept of symmetry is beautifully manifested in the joined wings of Sori Yanagi’s Butterfly Stool. Executed using the pressed plywood molding technique invented by Charles and Ray Eames, this graceful stool marries ancient Japanese forms with modern Western materials. First designed and manufactured in 1954, it now resides in the Museum of Modern Art and Metropolitan Museum of Art, among other fine museums worldwide. .

$350 at DWR

Perfectly self-contained objects of beauty, these solid walnut stools can act as a low table or a simple seat; hold a stack of books or coffee cups; live in modern or traditional surroundings. Charles and Ray Eames first designed the stools in 1960 for the lobby of the Time Life Building in New York City, but they soon became popular products and with time, one of the more charming classics of modern design. Today, these finely crafted lathe-turned pieces bring an animated personality to the office, home or commercial space.

$780 at DWR

Defined by a structural and material simplicity, the Cortina Table Lamp and Floor Lamp (2000) by Pablo Pardo simultaneously contain and diffuse light. The compact polycarbonate shade is virtually architectural, a thin rectangle of transparency that delineates the form and filters light through an external fabric diffuser, which is stretched over the top, down to the base. The floor lamp may be tucked beside a sofa, or placed in a corner, being well suited to today’s versatile environments in which efficiency of space and versatility are key, while the table lamp provides unique secondary lighting on a bedside table or reception desk

$280 at DWR

Available at DWR

Designed by two bright stars of Italian design, the Berenice is one of the most sophisticated task lights ever made. It epitomizes the modern design aesthetic, distilling form and function to their poetic essence. Equipped with a low-voltage transformer, the Berenice requires no wiring: the rods that form its lamp arm safely serve as electrical conductors. Despite its diminutive base, it affords 315 degrees of movement, and its strong halogen light can be projected in almost any direction.

$320 at DWR, $350 at MoMA.

Designed by Tom Dixon for his company Eurolounge, the Jack Light is made of rotationally molded low-density plastic for a lightness and toughness.

$295 at Unica

Designed for MoMA by Peter Hewitt, this vase may have an unfair advantage in its battle against the blossoms for attention. Competition aside, the anodized aluminum bands between panes of thick, plate glass provide the perfect, man-made complement to the natural miracle of a flower.

$85 at MoMA.

Philippe Starck’s long legged juicer has a sculptural feel while the grooved aluminum “spider head” neatly funnels juice down to your glass. It is a simple but hard working kitchen aid that’s as fun to use as it is to look at.

Designed by Karim Rashid, this chess set has soft & luminescent pieces that store inside of the acrylic board. It exists in orange/green and black/white!

/www.karimrashid.com/

$50 at Unica.