Designer and professor Bruce Hannah has enjoyed many milestones throughout his six-decade-long career. He rose to prominence in the ’70s through a fruitful partnership with fellow designer Andrew Morrison that saw the production of innovative aluminum-based furniture for Knoll, started his own design office in 1967, was chosen as Cooper Hewitt‘s first designer in residence in 1992, and taught at Pratt Institute, his alma mater, for almost four decades. He’s got a formidable inventory of “greatest hit” designs and plenty of awards to go along with them: standouts include the Hannah Desk System, which was chosen by the Industrial Designers Society of America as a “Design of the Decade” in 1990, and the time-honored Morrison Hannah chair, a practical-yet-joyful seating solution that Knoll introduced as “Easy to Manufacture, easy to reupholster, easy to live with and easy to love.”

Now, more than 50 years after Hannah and Morrison (yes, the chair is named after their collaborative efforts) first gave the world the Morrison Hannah chair, Knoll has brought it back in deluxe fashion. Four models, six frames, and a cornucopia of leather or textile options are available, making for a wide swath of options in line with Hannah’s open-minded ethos and belief that good design is for everyone. “I want to make people smile with my designs,” Hannah, playful and sharp as ever, said in conversation just ahead of the chair’s return to market. “I also want to round the corners of the world both physically and emotionally by making forms that say ‘Hey, have a seat, you look like you need to take a load off.’ There are already plenty of sharp edges that need a little extra padding to navigate in the world.”

It’s been 50 years since the Morrison Hannah chair was first brought to market. How does it feel to have something you created so early in your career welcomed back after all this time, and what do you think makes it as right for 2024 as it was when it first launched?

It feels amazing and shocking to have this chair reintroduced 50 years after Andy and I designed it. It’s an out-of-body experience, an unreal, pinch-me kind of emotion. The Morrison Hannah office chair may be even more relevant now than it was in 1973 because office chairs then had a visible design hierarchy: every office chair design had to do with the status of its occupant. This moment in history is more appreciative of a chair’s universal quality, its fit, its feel, its ease of manufacture, even recycling.

A lot has changed for you since the Morrison Hannah Chair was first released. What, if anything, has changed in your mindset towards design since then — and what remains the same?

My mindset toward design itself hasn’t changed much, but my ability to listen has. I’ve become a better design detective who still believes the edges of the world should be rounded, the less material and parts you use in a design the better, and that having empathy for all of those who will use a design and make the product is paramount.

The Morrison Hannah chair was created in collaboration with your friend Andrew Morrison. What’s the importance of collaboration in your work, and what makes a good collaboration to you?

Andy and I had a design conversation for 10 years, which I liken to a chess game that no one ever won because there always seemed to be another, better move. Andy was asked what part of the chair he designed once, and he answered, “I did the right side and Bruce did the left,” which pretty much sums up our design experience together.

Collaborations are fun because, as the saying goes, “If you play someone better than yourself you get better at the game,” so I always like to work with people who stretch my abilities to the max. When I worked with George Covington and Tanya Van Cott — full disclosure, Tanya’s my life partner — on Unlimited by Design, an exhibit at he Cooper Hewitt about universal design, Tanya brought her form and color sense to the project and George brought his ability as a blind-photographer. Those sensibilities led the design to places and solutions I would never have gone alone.

Some chairs hide their comfort in their form — you’re surprised at how comfy they feel when you plop down in them. The Morrison Hannah chair, however, just flat-out looks comfy. Can you speak to the intentionality behind that? What does it convey?

Andy and I were once asked what the future of design was and we said, “Something old, Something new. Something Borrowed, Something Blue Pillows.” We both liked the idea of creating furniture that says “Sit on me,” that invites the person to plop down and relax. Pillows are the answer to that human need emotionally, visually and physically.

Many designs can come off as very “serious” and almost unwelcoming. You seem to have a more playful, open nature — and once said that you were “on a personal crusade to create as much softness in the world as I can.” Can you emphasize the importance of infusing your practice with fun and joy? How has that helped you?

I want to make people smile with my designs. I also want to round the corners of the world both physically and emotionally by making forms that say “Hey, have a seat, you look like you need to take a load off.” There are already plenty of sharp edges that need a little extra padding to navigate in the world. Andy and I also loved color. There just isn’t enough color in the world of products. Red, yellow, blue, green, purple, orange, tangerine, lime. Oops, I just went a little citrus there. But you get the idea: a bright yellow chair in a space lightens it up and maybe brings a little joy, both literally and figuratively lighting up the room.

Besides your own designs, you were a professor at Pratt for several decades. What would you say the most important lesson to impart to your students was, and what’s your go-to piece of advice on how to approach design?

My go to advice, “Mock It Up Before You Fock It Up!”

As far as the lessons that I try to impart to my students, there are a few. Empathy was my first word for all my students. Have empathy for everyone who will come in contact with your work. That was always followed by license. Students need to know that their ideas are as valid as anyone else’s. Bring passion to your work.

POV. Develop a point of view. How do you see the world? Humility. Learn that design is in service to the community. That it is your job to listen. Discover what you can bring to design. I’m teaching an introductory course on industrial design to undergraduates that hopefully lets them discover the breadth of what a life in design can be. Designers juggle 10,000 things when they engage a new project. Juggling is a wonderful skill to have.

How do you think collaboration in the world of design has changed since you and Andrew created the Morrison Hannah chair?

When Andy and I started designing 50 years ago, everything was about in-person meetings where the design was dissected and analyzed in person with no holds barred. That meant there was little consideration for the designer’s emotional state. Today the conversations are sometimes in person, but often through Zooming and typing, which is not a bad thing. It’s just a different thing.

50 years ago the approach to designing, manufacturing marketing and selling was “Ready, fire, aim,” now it’s definitely in a more thoughtful, measured “Ready, aim, fire” sequence. I think companies know far more about their market than anyone did 50 years ago. All the people involved enjoy the process just as much. It’s fun to design and market beautifully made products, which is what Knoll has done for at least 80 years.

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The Knoll Morrison Hannah chair is available now via Knoll’s website, showrooms and dealers. Prices differ based on upholstery, frame and glide/caster options, and range from $1,095-$2,644 USD.