The Tulip chair was designed by Eero Saarinen in 1955 and 1956[1] for the Knoll company of New York City.

[2] The designs were initially entitled the 'Pedestal Group' before Saarinen and Knoll settled on the more organic sounding 'Tulip chair' to mirror its inspiration from nature.

Saarinen said: "The undercarriage of chairs and tables in a typical interior makes an ugly, confusing, unrestful world.

"[4] Saarinen had hoped to produce the chair as a one piece unit made entirely of fiberglass, but this material was not able to support the base, and prototypes were prone to breakage.

As a result, the base of the tulip chair is of cast aluminum with a rilsan-coated finish to match the upper shell, giving the appearance of a single unit.