Celebrating the Knoll design heritage, the Nakashima Straight Chair is a Modernist approach to the traditional Windsor chair. The Straight Chair features a natural, low-sheen finish and "live" wood grain patterns that epitomize Nakashima and his craft. The Straight chair is made from solid American Walnut and Hickory and feature the designer's signature and KnollStudio logo on the underside.

Nakashima, a wood craftsman and poet, studied architecture at the University of Washington in Seattle, the Ecole Americaine des Beaux-Arts Fontainebleau in France and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Nakashima received the gold medal for craftsmanship from the American Institute of Architects and the Hazlett Award. The subject of several one-man exhibitions, Nakashima also authored The Soul of a Tree: A Woodworker's Reflections.