he tulip chair was designed in 1956 by Finnish architect and designer Eero Saarinen, as a complement to his tulip table. Saarinen originally intended for the chair to be made from a single piece of molded fiberglass, but since early prototypes of the fiberglass were prone to breaking, he had to settle for a cast aluminum base, coated with rislan to match the fiberglass upper shell. The chair is still produced by Knoll using this same method. (Saarinen's dream of manufacturing a chair from a single continuous piece of material wouldn't be realized until 1967, with Verner Panton's famous S chair.)