Unexpected style. Unmistakably Wright. Inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright’s midcentury Usonian ideals, the Rockford + Galesburg Collections by Steelcase are shaped by the architect’s progressive vision of great design for everyone.
.
Rockford Collection
Intentional design and sympathetic geometric silhouettes come forward in the reintroduction of an exceptional lounge chair and a collection of reinterpreted companion pieces, inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright’s famed Laurent house in Rockford, Illinois.
In 1952, Wright completed one of his most meaningful Usonian homes for Phyllis and Kenneth Laurent. Embodying his organic principles and tailored to the unique needs of a disabled veteran, this is the only home in Wright’s portfolio designed to be wheelchair accessible.
The simple, usable and light-filled open plan of this “little gem” of a house is mirrored in Wright’s furniture of the era, combining functionality with lively shapes and clean, nesting modularity. For the Rockford Collection, these themes are at the heart of furniture that is meant to be seen and combined in the round.
.
Galesburg Collection
Sleek, folded planes and distinctive platform bases draw on Frank Lloyd Wright’s Usonian principles with reimagined modern upholstery. Unexpected in style yet anchored in Wright’s unmistakable architectural forms, the Galesburg Collection brings a sofa, chaise and lounge chair to life for home and work settings.
By the 1950s, Wright was making his designs available to more people, expanding beyond custom furniture crafted for specific homes with one of the first designer furniture lines, including a tuxedo-style sofa made with accessible materials like plywood and veneer.
This new collection uses that sofa as a starting point, along with built-in banquettes from various Usonian homes around Galesburg, Michigan. Reflecting Wright’s approach to furniture as scaled-down architecture, with the same ideal continuity of form, these pieces advance Wright’s goal to create timeless des
Rockford Collection Features
DESIGN IN THE ROUND
The Frank Lloyd Wright Rockford Collection revisits the purposeful geometry and modern engineering of Wright’s Usonian style to create striking shapes that appeal – and can be accessed – from any angle.
MODERN MATERIALITY
Wright was an early pioneer in working with plywood, which he favored for its accessibility and affordability. The Rockford Collection celebrates the intrinsic character of plywood and its exposed natural grain – expressing the beauty of this material, with all its layers visible on the beveled edges of the tables – rather than covering it with a hardwood veneer.
UPDATED COMFORT
The seat depth and proportions of the curving lounge back, and the larger, squared reshaping of its loose back pillow, have been thoughtfully updated to accommodate modern comfort.
BEAUTY AND UTILITY
According to Wright’s original design concepts, tables with nesting ottomans allow for space saving and easy configuration.
Galesburg Collection Features
FOLLOWING THE LINE
Across the collection, sculptural block panels turn corners seamlessly with crisp edging, following a continuous line around each form. This organic continuity applied to rectilinear shapes reflects Wright’s concept of folded planes, where every surface becomes one – a sophisticated technique that gives the upholstery a luxuriously tailored feel.
ARCHITECTURAL DETAILS
Honoring the architectural motifs in Wright’s furniture, an exceptional, complex welting detail wraps all the way around from the seat to the arm and back of the upholstery. Wright’s frequent composition of intersecting planes inspires a unique, recessed cross-form base that lifts up the seating, adding more structure and lightness to the profiles.
INSIGHTFUL COMFORT
An extended middle cushion creates more room without seams for the sitter in the center of the sofa, adding ease and inviting usability.
Open image tooltipOur Relationship
Steelcase and the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation are joined in a creative collaboration that ranges from launching reintroductions of iconic pieces to newly authored designs rooted in Frank Lloyd Wright’s principles.
Frank Lloyd Wright used design as a means of deepening the relationships between people, nature and place. With our first introduction, the Racine Collection, we were proud to participate in his vision of an architecture for better living that can help us all work better.
Learn More about the Steelcase and Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Partnership