By Jason Farago
One of the most important design presentations here showcases the biomorphic furniture of Wendell Castle, who created boldly sculptural chairs, benches and desks from the 1960s until his death last year. A low-slung rocking chair from 1962, carved from warmly stained oak and finished with stretched leather, looks as aerodynamic as a bobsled; a bench of stained black ash, with two swooping seats attached to intersecting cones, was made in 2015 with computer assistance.
He’s not the only furniture designer here who had an eye on technology; on the booth of the French gallery Vallois is a prototype desk from 1934, by the Art Deco designer Jacques-Émile Ruhlmann, made of the same aluminum alloy used in airplanes.
