Norman Cherner

Norman Cherner is best known for furniture design, but his work has ranged from graphics to lighting to prefab home design. Trained in the Bauhaus tradition, he saw architecture as an extension of industrial design. In 1948 he built the first low-cost modular homes in Ramapo, NY, while in 1957 he designed and assembled one of the first prefabricated homes in the United States, the "Pre-built" model, for the US Department of Housing. Among his most famous creations are the "Multi-Flex" modular storage system, the "Konwiser Line" furniture and lighting line, and above all the famous "Cherner Chair", designed in 1958 for Plycraft, today a design icon. Cherner studied and taught at Columbia University and the Museum of Modern Art in New York, pursuing a parallel career in design and architecture. He is the author of several books, including "Fabricating Houses from Component Parts" (1958) and "Make your own Modern Furniture" (1953), dedicated to the construction of affordable furniture and housing.