Knoll 1966 Lounge Chair

What it is

1966 Lounge Chair (with arms) is Richard Schultz’s outdoor lounge for Knoll — designed for Florence Knoll’s Florida salt-air brief, introduced March 1966 as the Leisure Collection (now the 1966 Collection), and still Knoll’s clearest residential answer to “what if the patio furniture were actually modern?” Schultz’s own line: outdoor chairs should be enhanced by wind, sun, and rain — they should breathe. This listing centers the lounge chair with arms as the primary residential patio sit; the collection also includes dining, sofas, chaises, tables, ottoman, cart, and fitted covers.

Construction grammar: welded cast and extruded aluminum frame in weather-resistant polyester powder coat; seat and back in woven vinyl-coated polyester mesh; solid pure vinyl straps (no fillers) sewn onto the mesh; stainless steel supports and connectors; clear plastic floor glides. Waterfall seat edge. Optional pads/pillows in select KnollTextiles; optional fitted outdoor cover. Ships fully assembled. Knoll notes the collection has been re-engineered with contemporary powder coat and stainless steel.

Dimensions (Knoll, model 1966-25 lounge chair): 26 W × 28.25 D × 26 H in, seat height 14 in, arm height 20.5 in, ~24 lb.

Price band (observed 2026-10-01, Knoll.com shop / collection pages): lounge chair with arms $2,629 on current bestseller configs; ottoman $2,323; two-seat sofa $3,596; three-seat sofa $4,743; adjustable chaise $5,464; lounge chair cover $475. Frame / mesh / strap combinations and site promos move street price — some SKUs have shown lower list or sale tags in the same window; confirm the live configurator. Typical residential shop note: on the order of ~8 weeks In-Home Delivery. Residential shop warranty listed at 1 year (confirm current terms). Contract / trade paths run through Knoll showrooms and dealers (KnollStudio price list).

This is outdoor lounge furniture — empty lane on Luxury House List opposite indoor Knoll seating and tables already covered (Barcelona, Florence Knoll coffee, Saarinen dining).

Who it’s for

Homeowners, architects, and designers who want a terrace that reads the same modern language as the living room — slender aluminum frame, breathable mesh, no faux-wrought-iron theater. Strong when the climate is humid or coastal (the original Florida brief), when the patio already wants Knoll / MillerKnoll discipline, and when the client will buy covers and treat the set as a kit, not a single impulse chair.

Skip it if you need a deep cushioned outdoor sectional for all-day sink-in lounging, want same-week big-box patio pricing, refuse low 14 in seat height, or won’t store/cover pieces off-season. Also skip if the brief is indoor architectural lounge only — that job already belongs to knoll-barcelona-chair / Eames. Skip unbranded “1966-style” mesh copies; buy Knoll authentic.

Standout details

• Specs that matter (Knoll US lounge chair): 26 × 28.25 × 26 in · seat 14 in · arm 20.5 in · ~24 lb · cast/extruded aluminum + powder coat · vinyl-coated polyester mesh · pure vinyl straps · stainless connectors · fully assembled · ~8-week shop lead class · 1-year shop warranty (confirm)
• Finish menus (design-plan / shop): powder coat including White, Light Bronze, Weatherable Silver, Onyx, Warm Wood, Chestnut, Dark Bronze, Green, Blue, Dark Red (shop); mesh White / Grey Tone / Aluminum / Bronze / Chestnut / Onyx; straps White / Grey / Onyx / Sand / Bronze / Brown — confirm current menus at order
• Craft signal: Florence Knoll–commissioned outdoor program refined over years before the 1966 launch; concealed connectors; materials chosen to drain and breathe rather than puddle and rust; continuous Knoll production after a mid-1980s pause when Schultz kept the line alive via Richard Schultz Design (returned to Knoll 2012, per Architectural Digest)
• Tradeoffs: mesh sit is cool and honest, not sofa-soft; 14 in seat is low; covers are real money (~$475 per lounge chair); a pair + ottoman + table + covers quickly leaves “one chair” pricing; UV and seasons still age mesh/straps even when aluminum refuses to rust; 1-year residential warranty is thin next to indoor Knoll icons

Who’s specifying

Residential and hospitality outdoor work buying Knoll direct (shop / Home Design locations) or through Knoll dealers and showrooms. Brand and design-plan copy still treat the 1966 Collection as the category standard for modern outdoor; Knoll states the collection is part of the Museum of Modern Art Permanent Collection — MoMA’s public artist page for Schultz documents outdoor lineage pieces including a Chaise Lounge (1965; aluminum, stainless steel, vinyl-coated polyester mesh; object 1431.2000, gift of the manufacturer). Treat Knoll’s collection-level MoMA claim and the specific chaise object record as related pedigree, not as a verified object number for this exact lounge-chair SKU.

Architectural Digest (Hannah Martin, June 2021) credits the 1966 chaise lineage on terraces and pools, names AD100 designer Steven Volpe as a repeat user (“pure, minimalist… useful when you want something quiet”), and shows a fleet of Schultz chaises at Dee and Tommy Hilfiger’s Miami-area home — chaise-forward press, same collection language as the lounge chair. Philadelphia Museum of Art decorative-arts curator Kathryn Hiesinger, quoted in that AD piece, on the line’s lasting performance. No invented celebrity lounge-chair room tours beyond sourced press.

Honest verdict

Luxury House List already covers indoor Knoll icons — Barcelona, Florence Knoll rectangular coffee, Saarinen dining — and zero outdoor furniture. 1966 Lounge Chair opens the empty outdoor lounge lane opposite that indoor Knoll coverage, not a second Barcelona. House Score 4 (Strong yes) for matching Who it’s for: design and craft are excellent; usability and durability are honest 4s about low seat, mesh comfort, covers, and UV wear; value is a clear 3 once pairs, tables, and covers stack. Not a Rare 5 — outdoor specification is climate- and maintenance-dependent in a way PH 5 / Eames / Barcelona are not, and Rare 5 sitewide should stay scarce. Draft until Press hosts official Knoll photography and greenlights. Spec White or Onyx frame with matching mesh for the calm default; add the fitted cover; buy a pair before the dining table if the terrace is the brief. Pair opposite indoor Knoll lounge — same brand discipline, deliberately outside. Buy Knoll authentic; skip the mesh knockoffs.