Florence Knoll Bassett
General Information
Occupation: Interior Designer
Date of Birth: January 01, 1917
Birth Country: United States
Resident City: Coconut Grove
Resident State/Province: Florida
Resident Country: United States
Archive/Repository: Smithsonian Archives of American Art, Florence Knoll Bassett
Sources: Doering, Erika, Rachel Sivitzky, and Rebecca Welz. Goddess in the Details: Product Design by Women: an Exhibition Organized by the Association of Women Industrial Designers and the Department of Exhibitions At Pratt Institute. New York City: Association of Women Industrial Designers, 1994. ; http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/findingaids/knolflor.htm
Specialties
Subject: Interior and Furniture Design
Jobs
Employer: Knoll Associations, Inc
Title: Director of Planning Unit
Start Date: January 01, 1946
End Date: January 01, 1965
Notes: co-founded with husband, Hans Knoll ; it later became Knoll International ; Florence Knoll sold the company in 1959 after Hans Knoll's death in 1955.
Collaborators
No collaborators on record
Apprenticeships
No apprenticeships on record
Awards
Name: National Medal of the Arts
Description: Lifetime Honors awarded by the National Endowment of the Arts
Date Received: January 01, 2002
Exhibitions
No exhibitions on record
Notable Projects
No projects on record
Education
Institution: Cranbrook Academy of Art
Notes: in Bloomfield Hills; studied under Eliel Saarinen
Institution: Architectural Association in London
Institution: Illinois Institute of Technology
Notes: studied under Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
Licensing
No licenses on record
Professional Affiliations
No affiliations on record
Publications By
No publications by on record
Publications About
Title: The History of Women Architects
Author: Sonja Gunther, Christine Jachmann, Helga Schmidt-Thomsen, Michelle Stanley (translator)
Publication: Exhibit Catalog
Publisher: ABC Satz and Druck GmbH
City: Berlin
Country: Germany
Notes: This is a catalog published for the exhibit of the UIFA (Union Internationale des Femmes Architectes). An exhibition of the German Federal Republik Section of the UIFA Within the framework of the IBA (International Building Exhibition) in Berlin.
Title: 'I Am Not a Decorator': Florence Knoll, the Knoll Planning Unit and the Making of the Modern Office
Author: Bobbye Tigerman
Publication: Journal of Design History
Volume: 20
Issue: 1
Page: 61-74
Date Published: January 01, 2007
Title: Shu U, part II: on the occasion of an exhibition on her work, Florence Knoll Bassett reflects on a long-time friend and favorite client [exhibition review]
Author: Paul Makovsky
Publication: Metropolis
Volume: 24
Issue: 9
Page: 128-131
Date Published: January 01, 2005
Notes: May 2005. The "friend and favorite client" was the former president of CBS, Frank Stanton, whose New York office she designed in 1965. "Shu" was Bassett's nickname. An exhibition of her work was on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art from 17 Nov. 2004 to 10 Apr. 2005.
Title: First lady of design: visiting the White House with National Medal of the Arts winner Florence Knoll Bassett
Author: Paul Makovsky
Publication: Metropolis
Volume: 22
Issue: 11
Page: 56
Date Published: January 01, 2003
Notes: July 2003.