1883: Foundation in Bolzano
Karl Plank founds a furniture workshop in Bolzano. From the beginning it makes furniture for homes as well as for hotels and restaurants.
Five generations of furniture production
PLANK’s history reflects a continuous dialogue between craftsmanship, architecture and industrial innovation.
1937: The second generation
Karl Plank Jr. takes over the workshop. By then PLANK is known throughout the region for furniture of high quality.
1953: Chairs in solid wood
PLANK decides to concentrate on chairs made from local solid wood. The first models go into series production under the name Dolomit.
1969: A factory by Othmar Barth
Under Martin Plank Sr., chairs become the company’s core expertise. In 1969 PLANK moves into a new factory in Ora, designed by the architect Othmar Barth, which takes serial production to a new scale.
1970s: Technology and growth
PLANK builds its own machinery, refines its production and secures several patents.
Early PLANK catalogue covers
1985: ORIGINAL PLANK
The solid-wood farmhouse chair becomes a brand: every seat carries the registered mark ORIGINAL PLANK, branded into its underside. More than 1.5 million chairs of a single model leave the factory, and PLANK becomes market leader in northern Italy, Austria, southern Germany, Switzerland and parts of the French Alps.
1993: Wood meets steel
With the Swiss designer Bruno Rey, PLANK combines its solid-wood heritage with steel. The Eliss chair translates traditional craftsmanship into a contemporary industrial language and becomes one of PLANK’s most successful products.
1997: MILLEFOGLIE
In 1996 PLANK meets Biagio Cisotti and Sandra Laube from Florence. A year later their chair MILLEFOGLIE marks the breakthrough and the beginning of PLANK’s international path; Biagio Cisotti later becomes art director.
In 1997 Michael Plank joins the company. With his father, Martin Plank Sr., he repositions PLANK: from now on, ideas lead production, not the other way round.
2005: MIURA
Work with Konstantin Grcic begins in 2003. Two years later MIURA is presented at the Salone del Mobile in Milan: a stackable bar stool made of injection-moulded polypropylene. It becomes one of PLANK’s best-known products, and in 2006 the Museum of Modern Art in New York adds it to its collection.
2011: Compasso d’Oro for MYTO
MYTO, a cantilever chair by Konstantin Grcic made in a single piece, is presented in 2008. In 2011 it receives the XXII Compasso d’Oro ADI.
Today: Five generations
Today PLANK brings together five generations of expertise: a deep knowledge of solid wood, continuous technical innovation, architectural thinking in product development and a clear, contemporary design language.
Led by Michael Plank, the company works with designers such as Konstantin Grcic, Naoto Fukasawa, Björn Dahlström and Cisotti + Laube, and with architects and interior designers around the world.
