6 FLORENCE KNOLL b1917
First lady of the modern office. Interior designer who acted as a bridge between the Bauhaus and American big business – and pioneered many of the techniques in commercial interior design practice, from space-planning to presentation models, that are comm
WHO: First lady of the modern office. Interior designer who acted as a bridge between the Bauhaus and American big business – and pioneered many of the techniques in commercial interior design practice, from space-planning to presentation models, that are commonplace today.
WHAT: Formed Knoll Associates in 1946 with charismatic German furniture salesman Hans Knoll, who had close links with Bauhaus masters Gropius, Breuer and Mies van der Rohe. The company’s aim was to introduce modern office furniture design to corporate America. Husband Hans Knoll was tragically killed in a car accident in 1955, but Florence Knoll ensured that the mission was accomplished in style.
WHERE: The boardrooms of large American companies, where Florence Knoll brought a new scientific approach to corporate interior design. She headed the Knoll Planning Unit, which pioneered staff surveys, productivity patterns and people flow in offices. Maintenance manuals, 3D presentation models and furniture layout plans with fabric swatches attached were also introduced.
WHY: Nicknamed Shu after her maiden name Schust, she trained as an architect under Eliel Saarinen and Mies van der Rohe, so she didn’t just marry into Modernism. As a student at Cranbrook Academy of Art, her peers included Charles Eames, Eero Saarinen and Harry Bertoia. She was very much part of the new modern wave in mid-century America. Her union with Knoll gave her the platform to realise her ideals.
ICONS: Stylish ‘fill-in’ furniture – tables, desks, credenza and seating – of her own design. She also created a climate for great work by Eero Saarinen, Charles Pollock and Harry Bertoia to be produced by Knoll.
INFLUENCE: If you’ve ever given a design presentation to a corporate client, some of the techniques can be traced directly back to Shu.
ODDBALL: In 1960 she stepped down from the presidency of Knoll and became a consultant. Five years later she retired altogether and became a recluse, severing all connections with the company she founded and leaving the sense of potential unrealised and a brilliant career cut short.
SOUNDBITE: ‘She had the greatest design eye of anyone in the business’ – Knoll factory manager.
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