Rowland, David

David Rowland was born on February 12, 1924, in Los Angeles. An only child, his mother was a violinist while his father was an artist who served as art director of the Haggin Museum in Stockton, California. Rowland began his studies in 1940 under László Moholy-Nagy. After these studies, he joined US Air Force as a pilot – he served in the European Theater of Operations with the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. After completing his military service, Rowland started studying again and in 1949 earned his BA degree in Physics from Principia College. Following graduation, he also was awarded a master’s degree of Fine Arts in Industrial Design from Cranbrook Academy of Artin Michigan. Finally, Rowland moved to Manhattan where he found work with the man considered being the first American industrial designer -Norman Bel Geddes. Working on his own in a low-rent apartment in Upper Manhattan he went through dozens of designs and prototypes of a chair that could be stored in a minimum of space. [1] Rowland’s ambition was to redefine chair design – make a chair which could be viewed as a piece of sculptural architecture, possess extreme functionality, and has mass appeal. David Rowland died at age 86 on August 13, 2010, at his home in Marion, Virginia. He was survived by his wife, the former Erwin Wassum.