Knoll conference table11/23/2023 The furniture she created for these spaces reflects her Bauhaus training: the pieces are pure functional design, exactingly built their only ornament from the materials, such as wood and marble. Florence signed up the younger Saarinen as a designer, and would develop pieces by Bertoia, Mies and the artist Isamu Noguchi.įlorence Knoll's main work came as head of the Knoll Planning Group, designing custom office interiors for clients such as IBM and CBS. They married in 1946, and her design sense and his business skills soon made Knoll Inc. In 1941, she met Hans Knoll, whose eponymous furniture company was just getting off the ground. She worked as an apprentice in the Boston architectural offices of Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer Ludwig Mies van der Rohe taught her at the Illinois Institute of Technology. Later, she studied under three of the Bauhaus masters who emigrated to the United States. While a student at the academy, Florence befriended artist-designer Harry Bertoia and Charles and Ray Eames. Saarinen and his wife took the talented child under their wing, and she became close to their son, the future architect Eero Saarinen. Her interest in design brought her to the attention of Eliel Saarinen, the Finnish architect and head of the Cranbrook Academy of Art. Florence Schust was orphaned at age 12, and her guardian sent her to Kingswood, a girl’s boarding school that is part of the Cranbrook Educational Community in suburban Detroit. Knoll had perhaps the most thorough design education of any of her peers. Dedicated to functionality and organization, and never flamboyant, Knoll shaped the ethos of the postwar business world with her skillfully realized office plans and polished, efficient designs for sofas, credenzas, desks and other furnishings. Only the table is included in the sale.Architect, furniture designer, interior designer, entrepreneur - Florence Knoll had a subtle but profound influence on the course of mid-century American modernism. The tables measure 78 x 48 x 28.25 inches.Ĭhairs and other furniture are not included. I can have this professionally done at your request (with added time allowed and minimal added cost). To be absolutely perfect again, they'd just need a freshening up with oil. The tops also have some wear noted with some light marks and scratches from use. The legs are in excellent condition with some light wear. Another smaller version is also available. In short, the design makes use of four sculpted legs adopted from the Planning Unit (a design from the late 50's/early 60's) with a top designed and dimensioned identically to the Florence Knoll oval 78 inch tables and Saarinen oval tulip tables. They were part of the "Knoll Planning Unit" design series, which can be noted by the design of these sculpted legs. When purchasing these tables, I reached out to a historian at Knoll to ask about the history of the tables. The tables were ordered by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill Architects (SOM) for the Pritzker family's Hyatt Headquarters during a large-scale re-design of their corporate headquarters in Chicago. The table was produced by Knoll International and is in very nice condition. Listed for sale is an original early 2000's custom ordered Jens Risom walnut dining / conference table.
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