1924
David Lincoln Rowland is born February 12th, on Lincoln’s
birthday, at 4649 Vermont Place in the eastern flatlands of
Hollywood, California.
1924
W. Earl Rowland, a Southern California Plein
Air artist and Neva Chilberg Rowland, a
violinist, are devoted and loving parents to David, their only
child.
1929
Earl Rowland notices young David’s ability to draw and his
interest in mechanical devices. He explains to David that
Industrial Design is where these two fields
intersect.
1929–1934
Joseph E. Chilberg, David’s Swedish-American
grandfather, comes to live with them. A former Alaskan gold
rush seeker turned artifact collector and trader, he
introduces David to his collections. He also saves young David
when he attempts to fly off the garage roof with homemade
wooden wings!
1924–1936
Up until age 13, David’s parents take him with them to their
weekly California Art Club meetings held at
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Hollyhock House. During
the meetings, David freely roams the house, grounds, even the
roof, soaking up the atmosphere and architecture.
1937
The family moves to Stockton, CA when Earl
Rowland becomes director of the Pioneer Galleries and Haggin
Museum, a local history and art museum. David attends Stockton
High School where he takes a course in drafting.
1940
At age 16, David—pictured back right in the above photo—is
given a special waiver by
Lazlo Moholy-Nagy to attend a summer session
of his Basic Bauhaus Course for college students and
professionals at Mills College in Oakland, CA. David calls it
the greatest summer of his life. Moholy-Nagy’s teachings
remain with David for the rest of his life and shape his own
design philosophy.
1940
David enters the
California Ford Good Drivers League contest,
established to promote safe driving habits among high school
students. He wins third place, out of 8,000 students.
1942
David graduates from high school, where he is
Art Director of the yearbook. For the next 8 months he works
as a detail draftsman for Rheem Manufacturing in Stockton,
drawing engineer’s plans for bomb-making machinery during the
day, and secret plans for submarine parts at night. He also
takes courses in literature and marine architecture at the
University of the Pacific.
1943
David volunteers for the
Army Air Corps during World War II. His
training to be a B-17 bomber pilot takes him to 15 different
air bases in the U.S.
1945
In January, David begins flying combat overseas, in the
8th Air Force, 94th Bomb Group (the Big Square A), 333rd
squadron, stationed at Rougham Air Base, near Bury St. Edmund,
England. Some of his missions were 12 hours long in unbearable
seats. David vows that if he survives the war he will design
more comfortable seats.
1945
By the time the war ends, First Lieutenant Rowland
completes 22 combat missions. He returns home
to California and resumes his education, taking liberal arts
courses at the University of the Pacific.
1946
David enrolls at Principia College in Elsah,
Illinois. He loves the school and its beautiful campus,
situated on the bluffs of the Mississippi River and designed
by Bernard Maybeck. David graduates with a Bachelor of Science
degree in Physics and later says, “War was hell. Principia was
heaven.”
1949
David takes a rendering course and color workshop at the
School of Industrial Design at the
University of Southern California in Los
Angeles.
1950
David begins graduate study at the
Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills,
MI—alma mater of a diverse group of esteemed designers,
including Charles and Ray Eames, Florence Knoll, Harry Bertoia
and Eero Saarinen. Cranbrook’s self-directed teaching approach
nurtured a group of independently-minded graduates, and led to
the school being known as a breeding ground for American
modernism.
1950
While at Cranbrook, David designs the
Magic Carpet Chair. The seat and back are
constructed of flexible steel wires woven with wool yarn by
his classmate, textile designer, Jack Lenor Larsen. The design
is extremely versatile and can be adapted to seating in cars,
buses, airplanes, and even tanks. As a bomber pilot in WWII,
David had always feared a bullet hitting him from beneath the
seat, so the seat is also bullet proof.
1950
While still at Cranbrook, David invents the
License Plate Gas Cap Cover. He takes his
design to the chief stylist of a major automobile company in
the Detroit area in the hopes of landing a summer job.
Instead, they steal the idea and implement it on their cars
within the year. Over the coming years, the design is used on
over 700 million cars. David learns early, the hard way, to
always patent his inventions.
1951
David graduates from Cranbrook with a Master of Fine Arts in
Industrial Design. Immediately following graduation, he
receives his first commission: to design an experimental chair
for the No-Sag Spring Company in Detroit. His design, the
Transparent Chair, was shown at the National
Home Furnishing Show in New York and received much acclaim.
1951
Charles Eames offers David a job in
California, but he declines, preferring to go to New York and
strike out on his own.
1951
David moves to New York, renting a $40/month
room at Madison Avenue and 94th Street, where he lives for 3
years.
1951
David’s design for a chandelier wins an
Illuminating Engineering Society Award.
1951
Maria Bergson, a pioneer in contract interior
design, commissions David to design and fabricate an outdoor
furniture suite for the Pacific Coast Borax Company
headquarters in Los Angeles.
1951
David continues experiments in new seating design with the
Spider Chair, which has a woven seat and back
similar to that of his Magic Carpet Chair.
1953–1955
Without any restrictions on his design rights, David accepts
freelance work drawing architectural renderings for
Norman Bel Geddes. Bel Geddes takes his
staff, with David as head draftsman, to Jamaica for the summer
of 1955. While there, David creates enough renderings to cover
the walls of a 20 foot cubic room.
1953
David invents and patents the waterproof
Drain Dry Cushion, which he licenses to Lee
Woodward & Sons. Royalties from the invention pay his rent
for the next15 years.
1954
Raymond Loewy, and other industrial designers
in New York, offer David a job. However, since they require
him to sign over the rights to anything he would create while
in their employ, David elects to continue working solo.
1954
David moves into his own apartment in New York at 49 West 55th
Street, where he establishes his own studio. In addition to
continued work on chairs, he designs an
apartment on Sutton Place, an office at 666
Fifth Avenue and a residential renovation in Riverdale, NY.
1955
David conceives of a
compactly stackable chair. He will make
countless drawings and 32 handmade models perfecting his
design.
1955
Over the next few years, David takes new chair designs to
Florence Knoll, who offers patient critique,
guidance, and encouragement.
1955
After extensive research on the measurements of human anatomy
throughout the world, David invents his
Maximum Order Dimensioning System, or MOD, a
measurement system for making products that are the most
comfortable for the greatest number of people. The dimensions
of the 40/4 Chair are based on the MOD.
1958
David creates the Zig Zag Cantilever Chair,
with novel patented mechanical and design features. It is
accepted into the 11th Triennale in Milan exhibition and also
wins a prize from the Cotton Batting Institute.
1959
David designs his Museum Wall System for
hanging works of art in museums and galleries. The innovative
design consists of a metal mesh underside covered with screens
of yarn, which eliminates the need for gallery walls to be
refurbished for new installations.
1963
After eight years of working on, refining, and showing his
revolutionary compactly stackable chair to prospective
companies, David licenses his design to the
General Fireproofing Company (GF), which
manufactures the chair. The chair is named the 40/4 because 40
chairs stack in a height of 4 feet.
1964
The first 40/4 order is for 17,000 chairs,
specified by the architectural firm Skidmore, Owings &
Merrill, for the new campus of the University of Illinois at
Chicago Circle.
1964
David wins the coveted Grand Prix at the
prestigious 13th Milan Triennale for the 40/4
Chair. The international event stages exhibitions that present
the most innovative creations in art, design, and
architecture. David is one of only two Americans to receive
the award at the time. The other is Buckminster Fuller who won
for his revolutionary geodesic dome design in 1954.
1964
The 40/4 Chair receives the
International Design Award from the American
Institute of Interior Designers (A.I.D.) in the Business
Furniture Category. Founded in 1931, A.I.D. was the largest
professional organization for interior designers and the award
was a huge honor. The winning designs were selected from more
than 400 entries from the U.S. and abroad.
1965
David receives the Master Design Award from
Product Engineering, an acclaimed national magazine for design
professionals. The award is given to a product that is “an
outstanding example of the integration of the resources of
engineering with those of design, manufacturing and
marketing.”
1965
When the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) opens
its new wing, architect Philip Johnson specifies the 40/4
Chair to be used in the Museum. It is the chair’s first
installation, and MoMA adds the chair to its Permanent Design
Collection.
1968
David establishes the
Earl Rowland Foundation, in honor of his
father. The non-profit produces and curates a library of
narrated filmstrip documentaries recording significant museum
exhibitions, mostly in New York City.
1968
The 40/4 Chair receives the
Gold Medal for Furniture from the Austrian
Government.
1969
David designs and patents the completely collapsible
Take Home Sofa, which has one of the
grooviest packages of the 1960s. David later develops the sofa
into his Modulus Seating System.
1970
David invents and patents his
Disposable Safety Ashtray, designed to
prevent cigarettes from falling out as they burn down,
reducing the likelihood of burns and fires. It is made of a
disposable, fireproof material, and is stackable. The topmost
ashtray can be lifted off and discarded, leaving a fresh,
clean tray underneath.
1971
David marries Miss Erwin Wassum, a native
Virginian and crafts designer in New York.
1973
David invents and patents Soflex, a thin,
open-mesh, resilient seating material created by coating
sinuous metal springs in a liquid plastic. It is the first of
its kind, yielding a very thin seating material that is also
soft, flexible and waterproof.
1979
The Thonet Company introduces David’s patented
Softec Chair, which is the first chair to
incorporate Soflex. The versatile chair design is compactly
stackable and is produced in numerous variations, including
arm chairs, bar chairs, outdoor chairs, and children’s chairs.
1979
The Softec Chair wins two gold medal awards, including best of
the competition, in the
International Business Designers (IBD) and
Contract magazine Product Design Competition.
1982
David licenses Martela of Finland to manufacture his
Modulus Seating System, a versatile system
that includes chairs, settees, sofas, and end tables that can
be set up in a wide range of seating configurations. It is
completely collapsible and ships flat.
1989
David’s Billow Chair, which incorporates his
resilient suspension system Soflex, is introduced by
Nienkämper of Canada. The lumbar curve of the back and the
sloped edge of the flexile seat work together to create a
snug, yet relaxed and comfortable chair body. The chair
automatically adjusts based on the natural movements of the
occupant. The chair wins a Resources Council Product Design
Award.
1992
Howe, a Denmark-based forward looking,
innovative, contract furniture company, buys the rights to the
40/4 Chair for Europe and much of the world.
1999
David travels around the globe, calling on
clients, advising in factories and giving talks. He thought
globally, recognizing that people need good seating
everywhere.
2003
After making frequent trips to Virginia to help Erwin’s
parents, the Rowlands relocate there. David
would comment, “I’ve lived in wonderful places: California,
New York and Virginia!”
2004
David expands the 40/4 family of chairs for
Howe to include a side chair, arm chair, swivel chair,
barstool, lounge chair, chair with writing tablet, and an all
wood chair.
2005
David continues a decades’ long interest in innovative ways to
use containers in architecture. It is another
example of his doing the most with the least and creatively
meeting people’s needs.
2005-2010
David continues to invent and design in his
Virginia studio, concentrating on stackable tables,
architecture that incorporates shipping containers, an
original flood control system he named Waterlog, and, of
course, chairs.
2010
Until his passing in 2010 at age 86, David Rowland would
continue to thrive on innovation and solving problems—“doing
the most with the least”.
He was the definitive industrial designer,
fusing the useful with the sublime and leaving us with a
timeless exemplar of comfort, efficiency, economy, craft and
form in the 40/4.