In its striking curtain wall of glass and modernist steel columns, Gordon Bunshaft’s International-style design for the Lever House — cocreated with Natalie de Blois — garnered widespread acclaim. The Pritzker Prize-winner was a legendary American architect, and his influence can be found today in city skylines all over the world.
Bunshaft studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology before undertaking fellowships in Europe and North Africa. In 1937, he joined New York City architectural firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill where he worked until his retirement in 1979.
Bunshaft shared the same interest in modernist furniture as Florence Knoll, an architect and furniture designer who had a subtle but profound influence on the course of mid-century American modernism and who helped make Knoll Inc. a leading firm in its field. Bunshaft recommended that Knoll be placed in charge of interiors when, while at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, he designed the Connecticut General Life Insurance Company’s headquarters in the mid-1950s.
Bunshaft’s projects drew heavily on the pioneering architectural work of Le Corbusier as well as Mies van der Rohe, an iconic furniture designer and fellow proponent of modernist architecture.
Celebrated architectural marvels created by Bunshaft include the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library for Yale University and the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Research Building for the University of Texas. Completed in 1974, Bunshaft designed the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, part of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., and finished the National Commercial Bank in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in 1983. The National Commercial Bank was his last project.
On 1stDibs, find vintage Gordon Bunshaft case pieces and other furniture.
1966 Gordon Bunshaft & Davis Allen for Marble & TA-39 Stainless Steel Side Table
By Davis Allen, Gordon Bunshaft
Located in Philadelphia, PA
This is a Marble and Stainless Steel Side Table, Model TA-39, designed by Davis Allen and Gordon Bunshaft as part of SOM Design. Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP. was and still is ...
Marble, Steel
1966 Gordon Bunshaft & Davis Allen for SOM Marble & Stainless Steel Side Table
By Gordon Bunshaft, Davis Allen
Located in Philadelphia, PA
This is a Marble and Stainless Steel Side Table, Model TA-47, designed by Davis Allen and Gordon Bunshaft as part of SOM Design. Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP. was and still is an i...
Marble, Steel
1966 Gordon Bunshaft & Davis Allen Marble & Stainless Steel Side Table 19x19"
By Gordon Bunshaft, Davis Allen
Located in Philadelphia, PA
This is a Marble and Stainless Steel Side Table, designed by Davis Allen and Gordon Bunshaft as part of SOM Design. Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP. was and still is an important ...
Marble, Steel
1966 Gordon Bunshaft and Davis Allen for SOM Marble & Stainless Steel Side Table
By Gordon Bunshaft, Davis Allen
Located in Philadelphia, PA
This is a Marble and Stainless Steel Side Table, designed by Davis Allen and Gordon Bunshaft as part of SOM Design. Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP. was and still is an important ...
Marble, Steel
1966 Gordon Bunshaft and Davis Allen for SOM Marble & Stainless Steel Side Table
By Gordon Bunshaft, Davis Allen
Located in Philadelphia, PA
This is a Marble and Stainless Steel Side Table, designed by Davis Allen and Gordon Bunshaft as part of SOM Design. Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP. was and still is an important ...
Marble, Steel
1965 Gordon Bunshaft and Davis Allen for SOM TA-39 Marble and Steel Side Table
By Davis Allen, Gordon Bunshaft
Located in Philadelphia, PA
This is a sophisticated marble and stainless steel side table, Model TA-39, designed by Davis Allen and Gordon Bunshaft of SOM. Skidmore, Owings & Merrill is a hugely important archi...
Marble, Steel
Mid Century Chrome Marble Side Table in the Style of Nico Zographos
By Nicos Zographos
Located in Pasadena, TX
Mid Century chrome marble side table in the style of Zographos Polished chrome base with a rich marble top. Small chip & scratch on marble
Marble, Steel
Vintage Knoll Marble Top Side Table
By Knoll
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
This authentic Florence Knoll side table, produced by KnollStudio, is a quintessential piece of Mid-Century Modern design. Inspired by the clean lines and rationalist principles of t...
Marble, Chrome
Kazuhide Takahama Djuna Low Table, Chrome & Marble, Mid-Century Modern
By Kazuhide Takahama
Located in Barcelona, Barcelona
Kazuhide Takahama Djuna Low Table For Cassina A designer low table that exudes understated elegance, crafted by Japanese architect Takahama as a tribute to female writer Djuna Barne...
Chrome
Florence Knoll Style Square Side Table in Carrera Marble and Chrome, Italy
Located in Wheat Ridge, CO
Florence Knoll Style Square Side Table in Carrera Marble and Chrome, Made in Italy A timeless example of modernist design, this Italian-made side table features a stunning honed Car...
Carrara Marble, Chrome
Minimalist Marble and Polished Steel Cocktail Table, 1970s
By Milo Baughman
Located in Palm Desert, CA
This striking cocktail table offers a masterclass in refined minimalism, pairing the cool elegance of white marble with the industrial sophistication of polished steel. The rectangul...
Carrara Marble, Steel
Solid Stainless Steel Marble Top 42x42 Square Mid Century Modern Coffee Table
By Knoll
Located in Rockaway, NJ
Mint Solid Stainless Steel Marble Top 42x42 Square Mid Century Modern Coffee Table Chrome
Marble, Stainless Steel
