Rohde, Gilbert

Rohde, Gilbert (1894–1944) furniture/industrial designer; born in New York City. An innovator in modernist furniture and interior design, he concentrated on progressive designs utilizing new materials and manufacturing techniques; he also pioneered in designing for mass produced furniture. He started his own industrial design firm in 1929 and from 1936 to 1937 he codirected the Design Laboratory in New York City, a Bauhaus-like school supported by the Works Progress Administration. He taught at New York University from 1939 to 1943.