Davis Allen (July 13, 1916 – May 13, 1999) was an American architect, interior, and furniture designer. He was noted as a pioneer in the design of interior corporate environments and had a forty-year tenure at

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill SOM, an initialism of its original name Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP, is a Chicago-based architectural, urban planning, and engineering firm. It was founded in 1936 by Louis Skidmore and Nathaniel Owings. In 1939, they were joined by engineer ...

Life and career

Davis Brewster Allen was born in Ames, Iowa and then lived in Illinois. He was educated at

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

, the

Royal Institute of Technology KTH Royal Institute of Technology (), abbreviated KTH, is a public research university in Stockholm, Sweden. KTH conducts research and education in engineering and technology and is Sweden's largest technical university. Since 2018, KTH consist ...

in Stockholm, and the

Yale School of Architecture The Yale School of Architecture (YSoA) is one of the constituent professional schools of Yale University. The School awards the degrees of Master of Architecture I (M.Arch I), Master of Architecture II (M.Arch II), Master of Environmental Desi ...

. He served in the US Army during World War II. After first working at

Knoll In geography, knoll is another term for a knowe or hillock, a small, low, round natural hill or mound. Knoll may also refer to: Places * Knoll Camp, site of an Iron Age hill fort Hampshire, England, United Kingdom * Knoll Lake, Leonard Canyon, ...

, and then with the architectural firm

Harrison & Abramovitz Harrison & Abramovitz (also known as Harrison, Fouilhoux & Abramovitz; Harrison, Abramovitz, & Abbe; and Harrison, Abramovitz, & Harris) was an American architectural firm based in New York and active from 1941 through 1976. The firm was a partner ...

, he moved to Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) in 1950. He became a partner in 1965, and remained at SOM until his retirement in 1990.

Paola Antonelli Paola Antonelli (born 1963) is an Italian architect, curator, author, editor, and educator. Antonelli is the Senior Curator of Architecture and Design at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, where she also serves as the founding Director o ...

of the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

described Allen's "contribution to defining the modern office" as "enormous". In 1983 he designed the "Andover" chair for Stendig International. After Stendig was acquired by

Burlington Industries Burlington Industries, formerly Burlington Mills, is a diversified American fabric maker based in Greensboro, North Carolina. Founded by J. Spencer Love in Burlington, North Carolina in 1923, the company is a subsidiary of Elevate Textiles and ha ...

, which eventually went out of business, this design was reintroduced by Knoll in 1993 as the "Exeter" chair. Allen also designed furniture for

Steelcase Steelcase Inc. is an international manufacturer of furniture, casegoods, seating, and storage and partitioning systems for offices, hospitals, classrooms, and residential interiors. It is headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States. ...

, GF, Stow Davis, Bernhardt, and Hickory Business Furniture. David Rowland, the designer of the 40/4 chair, gives credit to Allen, who "liked the design and immediately" and "put me in touch with GF", the 40/4 chair's eventual manufacturer. In 1985, Allen was inducted into the Interior Design Magazine Hall Of Fame. Examples of Allen's designs are in held in museums such as the

Art Institute of Chicago The Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States. The museum is based in the Art Institute of Chicago Building in Chicago's Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park. Its collection, stewa ...

, sought by collectors, and sold for large sums at auction.

Publications

* *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Davis 1916 births 1999 deaths American interior designers American furniture designers Yale School of Architecture alumni Skidmore, Owings & Merrill people Collection of the Art Institute of Chicago Brown University alumni