Florence Knoll

Hello blog world/internet. I ignored you for eleven days, and for that I sincerely apologize. But please know that I’ve come back with new focus, and I have some really exciting postings coming up. They will also be coming out more regularly. I hope. For the first, I would like to share a little about one of my favorite designers – Florence Knoll.

Born in America, Florence Schust was an architect and designer. She started her career in the late 1930’s. During World War II she met Hans Knoll, a furniture maker in New York, and went to work marketing his products to architects and designers. They later married. Florence designed much of the furniture, and collaborated with other designers. Many of the things they produced became icons of the modern movement (later to be known as the mid-century modern style).

Knoll continued to design interiors and was especially well know for popularizing clean, modern working environments. The look echoed through the corporate offices of the 1960’s, and is still somewhat popular today.

In 1955 Hans was killed in a car accident, and Florence continued to run the company until 1960. She stayed on as design director until 1965 and then retired completely. The company she built is still in business and still producing many of the pieces that were first introduced in the 1940’s. Her influence on design throughout the world cannot be measured, and somehow her look always has a fresh timeless feeling.