Large three-seater sofa, by Florence Knoll, Knoll International, circa 1970

Large three-seater sofa, chrome steel frame, new foam padding for the upholstered seat and back cushions, new off-white rustic wool cover.
Designed by Florence Knoll in 1954.
Lenght: 230 cm (90. 55 inches - 7.54 feet)
Depth: 80 cm (31.5 inches)
Seat height: 37 cm (14.6 inches)
Backrest and armrest height: 58 cm (22.8 inches)
Total height: 72 cm (28.35 inches)


Biography

Florence Knoll Bassett (born Schust) was an American architect and designer born in 1917 in Saginaw, Michigan. An orphan, she attended Kingswood School, a girls’ school in the Cranbrook community, co-founded by George Booth, a Detroit publisher, and Eliel Saarinen, a Finnish architect. It was thanks to Saarinen that Florence pursued her studies in architecture at the Cranbrook Academy of Art until 1939. She then went on to study in New York at Columbia University School of Architecture, then in London at the Architectural Association. In 1940, she studied at the Armour Institute (now the Illinois Institute of Technology) under Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. She then worked for Marcel Breuer and Walter Gropius, both architects. The following year, she moved to New York and worked for Harrison & Abramovitz, an interior design firm, where she met Hans Knoll (1914-1955), a furniture manufacturer and salesman. He appointed her director of Knoll’s Planning Unit and married her in 1946.

At Knoll, she influenced the greatest established designers and architects of the Bauhaus, as well as young talents such as Harry Bertoia. As an architect and designer, she designed tables, chairs, sofas, and storage systems. She actively promoted ergonomics in interior design and the total integration of furniture, architecture, graphic design, and textiles. In 1951, the company became Knoll International and expanded across the Atlantic. In 1955, when Hans died, Florence took over as head of the company. Three years later, she married banker Henry Hood Bassett. Florence remained chief designer at Knoll until her retirement in 1965. In 2002, she received the National Medal of Arts, and in 2004, she donated her archives to the Smithsonian Archives of American Art in Washington, D.C.


Story

Knoll International

Founded in 1938 in the United States, Knoll is a manufacturer of designer furniture and office furniture whose watchword is excellence. Since its founding, Knoll has always been looking for design modernization.Knoll International has been one of the leading design companies for over 70 years.

Hans and Florence Knoll developed one of the most creative and prolific companies of the post-war era.The couple imposes their vision of development thanks to the Planning Unit, combining interior architecture, design, production, textiles and graphics.Together, they took Knoll internationally by collaborating with designers like Eero Saarinen, Harry Bertoia, Jens Risom and Isamu Noguchi.

The collaboration with Eero Saaarinen also allowed a Knoll classic to be created: the Saarinen table.This Knoll table is one of the cult pieces of furniture in the history of design.Timeless, copied but never equalled, it combines sobriety and elegance.We also speak of the Knoll style to designate the joyful modernist interior decoration, the company’s trademark.

Knoll presents its range of products in numerous showrooms around the world.In addition to its headquarters in the United States, Knoll has production sites in Canada, the United States and Italy.These sites produce with modern techniques, qualified specialists, while respecting the environment.

Knoll continues to manufacture eco-responsible furniture while minimizing its environmental impact.