Paul Frankl Model '5025' Coffee Table in Cork

Paul Frankl for Johnson Furniture, coffee table '5025', lacquered cork, United States, 1950s

Designed by Paul Frankl, this coffee table features a striking biomorphic form, crafted entirely from cork. Its cloud shaped silhouette and rich golden tone create a warm, organic presence. Both sculptural and functional, the piece reflects Frankl’s innovative use of material and modernist vision.

Paul T. Frankl (1886-1958) was born in Vienna in 1886. Frankl completed his architectural studies at the prestigious Vienna Polytechnic University. After working in the office of Otto Salvisberg, he moved to New York City, as part of a wave of Central European design luminaries who were drawn by the energy and optimism of the American scene. Although Frankl began his career in the US as an architect, it was here that he started focusing on furniture design. In the 1920s, he started creating his ‘Skyscraper Furniture’ inspired by the New York cityscape, which became one of the most well-known styles of American modernism. From 1949 onwards, Frankl started to design for the Johnson Furniture Company. Characteristic for the designs Frankl developed for Johnson Company were, among others, the freeform cork tables in different shapes and sizes. Overall, his designs differ from streamlined Art Deco to free-form organic shapes.