Collection: Mark Goetz

Mark began designing objects to be loved as a student at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. During his years at Pratt, he was strongly impacted by hearing George Nelson and later Isamu Noguchi lecture. He also met Ray Eames, who participated in a review of his work. “Getting to meet these design masters in person fuelled my excitement for the future,” Mark recalls. “It also taught me that humility is essential for a lifetime of learning.” After graduation, Mark was hired by a number of respected New York design firms, with whom he worked on a range of projects, including consumer products and exhibits for the American Museum of Natural history. Later, at age 24, he started his own design firm. And while he enjoyed creating children’s products for Marimekko, tote bags for Le Sportsac and crystal for Steuben, his true passion has always been for furniture.

Over the course of his career, Mark has designed a desk used by a former US President, lounge chairs used for interviews on NBC’s “Today”, and the seating for the US Treasury Department in Washington DC. In addition, Mark returned to Pratt, this time as a Professor where he taught undergraduate design and Graduate Furniture Studio for 20 years. He also has lectured extensively in the US and abroad.

His contributions to the Herman Miller Collection include the Goetz Sofa, which was designed to elegantly stand alone or beautifully complement some of the classic home and office products that define 20th-century design. “If I was again sitting in a room with Nelson, Noguchi or Eames, I would still be listening rather than talking,” Mark says. “My favourite experiences come when I am learning. When designing the sofa, I took on that role, trying to understand the qualities of the Collection that make it so wonderful. I wanted to create something that respectfully adds to it.” More recent contributions to the Collection include the Full Twist Chair and Taper Chair, both of which Mark designed for Geiger, a Herman Miller Company. The latter earned Contract magazine’s Best of NeoCon Gold award in the ergonomic task chair category in 2017.