Knoll Platner Side Table - A Review

Yes, I did it again. I thrifted a designer piece of furniture off Carousell in Hong Kong. When I unpacked my new Knoll Platner side table (which I hauled painstakingly from Yuen Long and drove around 45 minutes to get it), I was well pleased. It is a testament to a specific, moment in design history, and it remains as captivating today as it was when it first dazzled the world in the mid-1960s.

Designed by Warren Platner in 1966, the piece is composed of hundreds of curved steel rods, meticulously welded at top and bottom to circular frames, creating a delicate, basket-like form. This structural “cage” is then electroplated- in my case, in a bronze finissh- and topped with a clear glass surface. The magic happens in the light: the rods catch and reflect illumination from every angle, creating a hazy, ethereal glow around a solid, functional form. 

History of the Brand: Knoll 

Founded in 1938 by Hans and Florence Knoll, Knoll Associates became the epicenter of American modernism. Florence Knoll’s visionary strategy was to collaborate with the world’s greatest architects and designers—Mies van der Rohe, Marcel Breuer, Harry Bertoia, Eero Saarinen—to create furniture for the burgeoning modern office and home. 

The brand didn’t just sell chairs and tables; it sold a cohesive design philosophy grounded in innovation, integrity of materials, and timeless form. A Knoll piece was, and is, a hallmark of enduring quality and design pedigree.

The Designer: Warren Platner

Warren Platner was an architect who had worked in the offices of both Eero Saarinen and I.M. Pei. In the early 1960s, he set out on a personal quest: to create a collection that embodied a new kind of decorative look. In an era dominated by the stark angles of high modernism and the emerging austerity of brutalism, Platner sought to reintroduce curvilinearity, texture, and a gentle, decorative quality without succumbing to historicism.

His solution was an engineering marvel. The hundreds of steel rods are the structural support for the table. The process of welding each rod at precisely calculated points to create uniform, self-supporting curves was notoriously complex and expensive. When the collection (which included chairs, stools, and tables) launched, it was an immediate sensation and still a hit with collectors today. 

You can easily tell whether a Knoll Platner piece is real or fake by looking at the quality of the welds and joints on the piece. I was a bit worried mine wasn't real, but judging by the quality and with assurances from the seller, I felt confident that my piece was the authentic deal.

The Knoll Platner Side Table

 The 40cm diameter of the bronze side table model is perfect for nestling beside a lounge chair, holding a stack of books, a cup of coffee, and a lamp. The glass top is thick (9mm) and sturdy, and its transparency is crucial—it allows the sculptural base to remain the star. It is surprisingly easy to keep clean; a quick wipe of the glass and an occasional dusting of the rods (in their bronze colour) with a soft cloth maintains its luster.

This side table is definitely an investment in a piece of design history, a functional sculpture, and the legacy of a brand that defines modern furniture. 

It retails for around $12000 HKD and I bought this piece for a whopping $1000 HKD (around 100 pounds). I'm really pleased with this thrift find. 

My Platner side table does everything a table should: it holds objects, serves a purpose, and anchors its space. But it does so much more. It inspires. And every day, it offers a quiet reminder of the day a designer looked at a steel rod and saw not just structure, but the possibility for radiance.