Daily News
From Home Furnishing Business
Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Collaborates for Collections with Steelcase
August 8,
2024 by Karen Parrish in Business Strategy, Industry 
Steelcase and the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation have launched the Frank Lloyd Wright Rockford and Galesburg Collections by Steelcase. The collections, an expansion of the organizations' collaboration, reintroduce Frank Lloyd Wright's iconic pieces and reinterpret his midcentury, Usonian style designs into fine modern furniture for the home and workplace.
The furnishings in the Rockford and Galesburg collections reflect Wright's "organic architecture" philosophy of working with readily available materials like wood, glass, concrete and plywood to make his designs more easily available to the public, while simultaneously tailoring his designs to meet the human needs of his individual clients.
"We were struck by the humanism, materiality and novel construction of Wright's designs from this time – they are so honest and simple, while still demanding incredibly sophisticated feats of structure and geometry," said Meghan Dean, general manager of ancillary merchandising and partnerships at Steelcase. "We're proud to bring Wright's philosophy forward with our newest collections of Usonian-inspired furniture for the home and workplace, advancing his vision to make great design available to everyone."
The Rockford Collection, inspired by the Laurent house, the 1952 home Wright designed for veteran Kenneth Laurent and his wife Phyllis in Rockford, Illinois, includes the reintroduction of a rail-backed lounge chair and a grouping of reinterpreted companion pieces including polygonal plywood tables and movable seating.
Each element can be accessed from any angle – intentionally tailored to meet Kenneth's needs as a wheelchair user, allowing him the freedom to comfortably move around his home. Wright's human-first approach focused on designing for people with different needs, considering accessibility far ahead of his time.
The Galesburg Collection is reimagined and inspired by built-in banquettes from various Usonian homes in Wright-designed Parkwyn Village and The Acres communities around Galesburg, Michigan. The collection features Wright's three-dimensional shapes that turn corners and applies his linear detailing to achieve Wright's vision of a luxuriously tailored feel.
Steelcase designers used Wright's earlier drawings of a tuxedo-style sofa, created for one of the first designer furniture collections available to the general public, reflecting Wright's efforts to expand beyond the custom furnishings that he made for individual homes.
The Galesburg collection, with a sofa, sectional and lounge chair, brings forward Wright's intention to help more people use his furniture to create their own inspiring environment.
"Looking into the Foundation archive and studying certain homes provided us with a lens to create these collections that really move beyond the more well-known Prairie style. We're in dialogue with Frank Lloyd Wright's whole body of work, uncovering ideas that matter to our customers, aesthetically and historically, and which feel even more relevant today," said Stuart Graff, president and CEO of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation.
"Together we are honoring Frank Lloyd Wright's vision with informed design, but we are also allowing the work to change as part of a living legacy. This is the best of what a partnership can do, as we continue our mission of sharing and interpreting Frank Lloyd Wright for people today."
Steelcase and Frank Lloyd Wright's collaboration began 80 years ago when Steelcase produced the original furniture for Wright's design of one of the first open-plan office spaces – the SC Johnson Administration Building in Racine, Wisconsin. In early 2023, Steelcase and the Foundation unveiled the Frank Lloyd Wright Racine Collection by Steelcase, which reintroduced the desk and chair Wright designed for SC Johnson and launched modern versions that reinterpret the original line of furniture for use across a wider range of spaces and settings while capturing the spirit and groundbreaking look of his designs.
Additionally, the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation was recently named Fast Company's 2024 Design Company of the Year, recognizing the Racine Collection and the new collection of textiles, wallcovering and custom materials from Steelcase brand Designtex®.
The Rockford and Galesburg collections follow the Frank Lloyd Wright Racine Collection by Steelcase, which the organizations launched in early 2023. All three collections are available for purchase in North America at Steelcase.com/FrankLloydWright.