Design pioneer and co-partner of furniture manufacturer Knoll Florence Knoll Bassett died on January 25th in Coral Gables, Florida. She was 101.
Knoll Bassett’s passion for architecture and design was palpable from an early age, with her talent earning her notice from famed architect Eliel Saarinen. She studied at the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Detroit, as well as Columba University and the Architectural Association of London, before completing her training at the former Armour Institute of Technology in Chicago. The young architect met her future husband and business collaborator Hans Knoll, the son of a furniture manufacturer, once she relocated to New York in 1941. Knoll Bassett mirrored the enthusiasm of the German designer who aimed to establish a stateside appreciation for European Modernism. Upon marrying in 1946, the couple launched Knoll Associates.
Arguably Knoll Bassett’s most groundbreaking contribution to the company was the Knoll Planning Unit. Setting a new standard for midcentury modern interior design, Knoll Bassett expanded the company’s portfolio with seating, tables, and casegoods throughout the 1940s and ’50s. In the same timeframe, Knoll Associates grew internationally with new offices in Belgium, Canada, France, and Switzerland. Following the sudden death of her husband in 1955, Knoll Bassett remained at the helm of the Knoll Planning Unit while also overseeing all design-related aspects of the company, including showroom designs, marketing, and advertising. The Knoll Planning Unit began a collaboration with the First National Bank of Miami in 1957, during which Knoll Bassett met and eventually married the bank’s leader Harry Hood Bassett.
Knoll Bassett was awarded the National Medal of the Arts in 2002 and is also the first woman to receive the Gold Medal for Industrial Design from the American Institute of Architects in 1961. She donated her papers to the Smithsonian Institute in 2000, and they have remained housed in an archive she designed herself.
Knoll is survived by two stepsons and a stepdaughter.
Knoll and Knoll Bassett circa 1945. Photography courtesy Knoll Inc.
