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Designer
Florence Knoll
Florence Knoll (née Schust, 1917–2019) was an American architect, interior designer, furniture designer and entrepreneur. Born in Saginaw, Michigan and orphaned at twelve, she was sent to the Kingswood School at Cranbrook, where Eliel…
Biography
Background
Florence Knoll (née Schust, 1917–2019) was an American architect, interior designer, furniture designer and entrepreneur. Born in Saginaw, Michigan and orphaned at twelve, she was sent to the Kingswood School at Cranbrook, where Eliel Saarinen and his family took her under their wing. She went on to study with Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and with Ludwig Mies van der Rohe at the Illinois Institute of Technology.
Signature Style
As head of the Knoll Planning Unit, she approached furniture with the whole space in mind. Her pieces are architectural rather than sculptural: she scaled down the rhythm and details of modern buildings and humanised them with colour and texture, producing designs Knoll describes as "all simple, none plain."
Notable Works
- Florence Knoll Lounge Collection (sofa, settee and lounge chair, 1954)
- Florence Knoll Credenza, Table Desk and Executive Desk
- Florence Knoll Coffee and End Tables, Bench and Hairpin Stacking Table
Legacy
With Hans Knoll, whom she married in 1946, she grew Knoll into an international arbiter of modern design and persuaded architects such as Eero Saarinen, Harry Bertoia and Mies van der Rohe to design for the company. The Planning Unit defined the modern corporate interior of post-war America for clients including IBM, GM and CBS. She led Knoll after Hans Knoll's death in 1955 and retired in 1965; she received the National Medal of Arts.
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Collections
Products
Florence Knoll Relaxed Sofa and Settee
Florence Knoll's 1954 lounge sofa in a softer, deeper relaxed version, two or three seats
Florence Knoll Dining Tables
Florence Knoll's dining tables in marble on a polished chrome frame, 55 in square to 94 in long
Florence Knoll Model 31 Lounge Chair
Florence Knoll's 1954 lounge chair on a tubular steel frame, reissued by Knoll in 2023
Florence Knoll Relaxed Benches
Florence Knoll's lower, softer benches, square and rectangular, for bench, ottoman or table use
Florence Knoll Table Desk
Florence Knoll's 1961 oval and round table desks on a four-star chrome base
Florence Knoll Sofa
Florence Knoll's 1954 three-seat sofa on an exposed chrome frame, with a two-seat settee
Florence Knoll Relaxed Lounge Chair
Florence Knoll's 1954 lounge chair in a softer relaxed version with deeper seat and fiberfill
Florence Knoll Credenza
Florence Knoll's 1961 credenza in small, large and high sizes on a polished chrome frame
Florence Knoll Bench
Florence Knoll's 1954 tufted bench on a chrome frame, in two- and three-seat sizes
Florence Knoll Executive Desk
Florence Knoll's pedestal Executive Desk with two pencil drawers, reintroduced by Knoll in 2014
Florence Knoll Coffee and End Tables
Florence Knoll's square coffee and end tables with glass, wood or marble tops on chrome
Florence Knoll Hairpin Stacking Table
Florence Knoll's 1948 Model 75 stool, reintroduced as a hairpin-leg table that stacks five high
