Florence Knoll

Orphaned at the age of twelve, Florence Knoll’s guardian intended to send her to boarding school – leaving the choice of where to go up to her. The Michigan born “Shu” (as her last name was formerly Schust) had only recently heard of Kings-wood School for Girls (part of the Cranbook Academy of Art co-founded by world-renowned Finnish architect, Eliel Saarinen, who also taught there), but when she saw it, the choice was made given the Academy’s uniqueness and beauty. It was 1932, and Knoll was intro-duced to the architecture and de-sign world, in which she learned the basics of planning and drafting.

Knoll’s first project was to design a model house, including interiors. Loja Saarinen of the weaving studio had sparked her interest in texture and color, and Knoll’s project had caught the attention of Eliel Saarinen him-self. With her very first venture into design, Knoll was already innovative: she planned the garage with double doors so that it was unnecessary to back up.

After two years at Kingswood, Knoll moved on to the Cranbrook Art Academy. There she studied design with the Saarinens (including son Eero, who was then being instructed by his father), Ray and Charles Eames, Carl Milles, and Harry Bertoia, among others. Eero suggested that she not only plan but make her own furniture for her dorm room. Knoll leapt into the project and created a desk/bookcase/headboard combo, a cube table on rollers, a striped carpet and geometric wall hanging.

IN A WORD, THE WOMAN COULD DESIGN.

After studying architecture in London, summering in Europe with the Saarinens, Knoll’s formal training came to a close with Mies van der Rohe at the Illinois Institute of Technology. Her architectural work began with Marcel Breuer in Boston, and while working with Wallace K. Harrison in New York, was assigned the few interiors to design as she was often the only woman on staff. As Hans Knoll was just establishing a furniture business, the two met in 1943. Hans asked Knoll to design an office for Secretary of War, Henry L. Stimson, and additional jobs followed.

The rest, of course, is history. Knoll Associates started in 1946 and through Knoll’s direction, changed the usual standard of practice, becoming famous for her “total design.” Everything about a space: architecture, interior design, textiles, graphics, and even manufacturing, were considered en masse. Though the concept is highly reminiscent of her early years at school, it was the opposite of how space planning in mid-century was handled – and has since become the norm.

Another aspect of outstanding significance that Knoll Associates initiated that changed customary business procedures was working with friends and colleagues such as the Saarinens, the Eames, and Harry Bertoia – establishing a system of crediting and paying royalties to their designers. In so doing, the Knolls developed deep loyalties within the intensely artistic community. When Knoll Associates moved their operations from New York to Pennsylvania in 1950, the creation of modern lega-cies ensued: Eero Saarinen’s Tulip chairs, Harry Bertoia’s wire furniture, and Isamu Noguchi’s coffee table, among others.

Knoll herself designed chairs, sofas, tables, and other accessories that are still available today. When Hans was killed in a car accident in 1955, Knoll became president of the company. By that time, Knoll Associates had expand-ed to Europe via a series of government contracts and Knoll International furthered its reputation as one of the twentieth century’s most important and influential compan-ies. Knoll Textiles, yet another company, was already flourishing, and Knoll herself oversaw all three companies.

In 1958, Knoll married again, to Harry Hood Bassett. She started to sell interests in her firms but still continued to work as a consultant until 1965, when she retired completely. Knoll became the first woman to be awarded the Gold Medal for Industrial Design by the American Institute of Architects in 1961, and received the Total Design Award from the American Society of Interior Designers in 1977. In 2002, she was awarded the prestigious National Medal of Arts from the National Endowment for the Arts.

One must wonder what Knoll feels today about having such an enormous impact on the world of mid-century design. And whether she envisioned at the time she imagined that four-door garage as part of her very first design project so many years ago at Kingswood, that her brilliance would extend so far.