Product Description
As founder and director of Knoll Planning Unit, the space-planning arm of the furniture company founded by her late husband in 1938, Florence Knoll almost singlehandedly defined the look of midcentury modern corporate interiors. To her, furniture was just one aspect of her “total design” approach to interiors, and when she couldn’t find a piece she needed, she designed it herself. She modestly referred to her furniture designs as the “meat and potatoes” of an interior, yet to this very day they hold the same iconic appeal as that basic, functional meal. Believing that an executive’s desk should be a tool to facilitate communication, she designed her pedestal-base Executive Desk (1961) – first known as Model 2485 – to serve as both a desk and table in order to promote collaboration. This is the authentic Florence Knoll Executive Desk by Knoll, with the KnollStudio logo and designer’s signature stamped into its base. Made in U.S.A.
Specifications
Dimensions
H 29.25″ W 72″ D 37.75″
Materials
Heavy-gauge welded chromed steel base; rosewood veneer over MDF; solid maple drawers with rosewood veneer; ball bearing drawer glides.
Designer
Florence Knoll Bassett
USA (1917)
Architect and designer Florence Knoll Bassett (formerly Schust) has had a profound influence on more than 50 years of building interiors. An early protégée of Eero Saarinen, whom she met while studying at the Kingswood School on the campus of the Cranbrook Academy of Art, “Shu” (the nickname by which she’s popularly known) went on to study architecture at Cranbrook. From there, she earned degrees at the Architectural Association in London and the Armour Institute (Illinois Institute of Technology) in Chicago. While in Chicago, Shu studied with Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, for what she calls “a very valuable year.” She worked briefly in Boston for Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer, and while working in New York for Wallace K. Harrison, Shu met Hans Knoll, who asked her to design an office for former Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson. Additional jobs with Hans Knoll followed, and in 1946, Shu and Hans married and formed Knoll Associates, Inc.
Shu is famous for her philosophy of “total design,” and as the director of the Knoll Planning Unit she revolutionized interior space planning. Her approach of embracing everything about a space – architecture, interior design, graphics, textiles and manufacturing – was not the standard midcentury practice in space planning, but it caught on and continues to be the standard today. Shu was also a furniture designer, as well as a great eye for talent. It was under her leadership that many of the modern masters created collections for Knoll. These legacies include Eero Saarinen’s Tulip™ chairs and pedestal tables, Isamu Noguchi’s coffee table and Harry Bertoia’s wire furniture.
In 2002, Florence Knoll Bassett was accorded the National Endowment for the Arts’ prestigious National Medal of Arts.
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.