Florence Knoll

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coffee table
Florence Knoll , 1954
Rosewood and chrome-plated steel
Museum of Modern Art, New York

Link to the picture
(please note copyrights )

Florence Marguerite Knoll Basset (born May 24, 1917 in Saginaw , Michigan ; † January 25, 2019 in Coral Gables , Florida ) was one of the most renowned American designers and architects of the 20th century and a pioneer in the manufacture of modern furniture. Their innovative interior design had a lasting influence on contemporary interior design .

Life

Florence Knoll's parents died early. As an orphan , she was a boarder at Kingswood Girls' School in Bloomfield Hills , Michigan, from 1932 . The school complex was home to the Cranbrook Academy of Art , which, under the direction of Eliel Saarinen, developed into a center for progressive architects and artists. Saarinen and his wife Loja became aware of the young girl's interest and talent, and when they traveled with their son Eero to their old home Finland and other European countries during the holidays , they took the girl with them. It was there that it got to know the outstanding structures in European architectural history. The Saarinen couple also introduced the young girl to artist friends such as Le Corbusier , Frank Lloyd Wright and Alvar Aalto .

Education

After graduating from school in 1934, Florence Knoll began studying at the Cranbrook Academy of Art, where she acquired handicraft skills in the metal, wood and ceramic workshops and drew her first furniture designs. From 1935 she studied at the oldest school of architecture, the Architectural Association in London . When all American students in Europe were supposed to return to the United States at the outbreak of World War II , the student benefited from her contacts: It was essential for her decision to join Harvard University that the emigrated Bauhaus designer Marcel Breuer , the inventor of tubular steel furniture, was there taught at Harvard University Graduate School of Design (GSD). At the Illinois Institute of Technology she was a student of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe . From him, in her opinion, she “learned more than from anyone else and in fewer words”.

Professional background

She began her professional activity in the architecture office of Marcel Breuer and Walter Gropius in New York. She then worked in the studio of Max Abramovitz and Wallace K. Harrison, who had made a name for themselves in the construction of the Rockefeller Center in the 1930s . In the autobiographical materials of Florence Knoll you can find the memory that she was confronted with male prejudices at this workplace: "Since I was the only woman, I was commissioned with the few interior spaces." At the same time, the young professional was already working as a freelance architect met Hans Knoll as part of her work .

In 1943 the young architect joined Knoll's company. The two married in 1946. According to Florence, Hans was a "fantastic salesman and brilliant entrepreneur" who took over the management of the business while she was at the head of the newly formed planning group, all design areas of the company were subordinate to her and she was everywhere where the visual appearance was concerned, had the last word. The company was renamed Knoll Associates .

Florence Knoll secured the manufacturing rights for the legendary Barcelona armchair by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe as early as 1948 with entrepreneurial vision , which is still built by Knoll today.

The constantly expanding company not only built on Florence Knoll's own designs, but also specialized in the ideas of innovative architects and designers such as Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Marcel Breuer, Harry Bertoia , Isamu Noguchi , who designed furnishings for Knoll.

Florence Knoll took over the concentration on details from Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and the inclusion of all elements in her design process from Eliel Saarinen. Florence Knoll acted according to the motto Good Design is Good Business. She had “the dialogue between interior and space in view”.

After her husband's accidental death in 1955, Florence Knoll managed the company alone until 1965. She hired a managing director, but still took care of new designs and marketing. After marrying the banker Harry Hood Basset in 1958 and moving to Miami, she commuted between her home and New York, but also managed the company successfully from afar. For example, Anni Albers, a former weaver at the Bauhaus, designed abstract geometric templates for room textiles. She only withdrew from the company in 1965.

plant

Interior design

  • University building

The interior design of the student union at Ohio State College was designed by Florence Knoll, as was the Center for the Advanced Study of the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University in Palo Alto , California in 1954 . 1956 followed the interiors of the Southern Methodist University in Dallas and the student dining room of the University of Rochester in Rochester , New York

  • office building

In 1957, Knoll drew up plans for the interior design of the Connecticut Life Insurance Company building in Hartford . The contract to renovate the interior of the office building of the media group CBS in New York City had a promising effect . When CBS later moved into a new office building built by Eero Saarinen, the interior design was also transferred to Florence Knoll. Only after the successful completion of this important project in 1965 did she leave the company.

  • Knoll showrooms

In 1951, Knoll designed the first showroom for her company in New York, followed by others in the USA (including Los Angeles (California)) and Europe (including Rome in 1960 ).

Furniture

Sideboard
Florence Knoll , 1955
Chromed steel, mahogany, marble
Museum of Modern Art, New York

Link to the picture
(please note copyrights )

Florence Knoll designed sofas, armchairs, tables and sideboards in a minimalist style in the Bauhaus tradition.

armchair
Florence Knoll , 1955
Chromed steel, wool upholstery
Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia

Link to the picture
(please note copyrights )

The no-frills shapes were combined with innovative materials and manufacturing processes, such as her classic couch model 1206 from 1954. Furniture by Florence Knoll has found its way into renowned museums, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York City and the Philadelphia Museum of Art . Her autobiographical records are now in the Archives of American Art at the Smithsonian Institution .

Awards and honors

In 2002 she was awarded the National Medal of Arts for her contribution to 20th century design . She received the most prestigious award that the United States Congress bestows on artists and patrons of the arts.

reception

In the Mad Men series, Florence Knoll's reduced style was made available to a large audience decades later: In the office of the series hero Don Draper, the sofas from the lounge collection she designed served as eye-catchers.

literature

  • Jamie Suzanne Aron: Woven Images. From the Bauhaus Weaving Workshop to the Knoll Textile Division. Master's thesis, University of California, 2013.
  • Claudia Lanfranconi: Florence Knoll. In: Claudia Lanfranconi, Antonia Meiners (ed.): Kluge Geschäftsfrauen. Elisabeth Sandmann Verlag, Munich 2010, ISBN 978-3-938045-22-0 , pp. 73-77.
  • Bobbye Tigerman: 'I Am Not a Decorator.' Florence Knoll, the Knoll Planning Unit and the Making of Modern Office. In: Journal of Design History , Volume 20, No. 1 (Spring 2007), pp. 61–74.
  • Sabine Caroline Wilson: 'Good design is good business.' Florence Knoll. In: Britta Jürgs (Ed.): From the salt spreader to the automobile. Designers. AvivA Verlag, Berlin 2002, ISBN 3-932338-16-2 , pp. 140–151.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Florence Knoll Bassett, Design Pioneer and Guiding Light of Knoll, Dies at 101 knoll.com, accessed January 26, 2019
  2. ↑ a b Florence Knoll in an interview with the New York Times, quoted from: Claudia Lanfranconi: Florence Knoll , in: Claudia Lanfranconi, Antonia Meiners (ed.): Kluge Geschäftsfrauen , Elisabeth Sandmann Verlag, Munich, 2010, ISBN 978-3 -938045-22-0 , p. 74.
  3. ^ Sabine Caroline Wilson: 'Good design is good business .'– Florence Knoll. , in: Britta Jürgs (Ed.): From salt shakers to automobiles: female designers. , AvivA Verlag, Berlin, 2002, ISBN 3-932338-16-2 , p. 143.
  4. ↑ Florence Knoll in an interview with the New York Times, quoted from: Claudia Lanfranconi: Florence Knoll , in: Claudia Lanfranconi, Antonia Meiners (ed.): Kluge Geschäftsfrauen , Elisabeth Sandmann Verlag, Munich, 2010, ISBN 978-3-938045 -22-0 , p. 75.
  5. ^ Sabine Caroline Wilson: 'Good design is good business .'– Florence Knoll. , in: Britta Jürgs (Ed.): From salt shakers to automobiles: female designers. , AvivA Verlag, Berlin, 2002, ISBN 3-932338-16-2 , p. 142.
  6. ↑ a b Ulrike Sauer: The legacy of Florence. In: sueddeutsche.de . June 6, 2018, accessed June 10, 2018 .
  7. ↑ http://www.aaa.si.edu/
  8. ^ Announcement on the award of the National Medal of Arts , accessed on October 10, 2015.
personal data
SURNAME Knoll, Florence
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Schust, Florence Marguerite (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American interior architect and designer
DATE OF BIRTH May 24, 1917
PLACE OF BIRTH Saginaw , Michigan , United States
DATE OF DEATH January 25, 2019
Place of death Coral Gables , Florida