Knoll International

Knoll International

Company History

Knoll International - at that time Hans G. Knoll Furniture Company - was founded in 1938 by Hans Knoll, who, as the son of Walter Knoll, had grown up with a strong relationship to the furniture industry, specifically the Bauhaus movement had a strong influence on him and he would come to count Bauhaus pioneers Walter Gropius, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Marcel Breuer among his circle of acquaintances. Driven by the idea that modern architects needed modern furniture, he hired room designer and designer Florence Schust, who with a degree from Cranbrook Academy in Michigan, a degree in architecture from the Architectural Association in London, and experience from the architecture offices of Gropius and Breuer had an impressive, modernist, CV. Following their marriage in 1946 Florence Knoll and Hans Knoll founded Knoll Associates and retained the Bauhaus approach, but through cooperating with Eero Saarinen, Harry Bertoia, Jens Risom and Isamu Noguchi also guided the company in a more international direction. To this day, Knoll International is one of the most renowned manufacturers in the design furniture industry and counts design classics like the Barcelona Collection by Mies van der Rohe, the Saarinen Tulip Chairs by Eero Saarinen, the Wassily Chair by Marcel Breuer and the well-known Diamond Chairs by Harry Bertoia among its exclusive portfolio.

Knoll designers and collections

True to the Bauhaus philosophy that furniture should not compete with the architectural space, but should complement it, the furniture manufacturer Knoll produces both functional and long-lasting Bauhaus classics as well as contemporary designs by younger designers, and that through two principle channels: "KnollStudio" which focuses on design furniture for the home and "KnollOffice" which focuses on furnishing systems and seating for office space and contract use. One of the most famous Knoll product lines is the Barcelona Collection, originally designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe for the German Pavilion at the World Expo 1929 Barcelona. To this day, the former Bauhaus director is considered one of the most important personalities in the history of architecture and design and in 1948 Mies van der Rohe granted Knoll exclusive rights to manufacture of the Barcelona furniture, the Brno Chair and the MR Collection. Other Knoll design classics came from Harry Bertoia, who helped Charles Eames in 1946 to develop methods for layering and shaping plywood, and was a passionate metal artist; consequently it should not be a surprise that his Bertoia Chair Collection from the year 1952 is considered worldwide as one of the greatest achievements of furniture design of the 20th century. A few years later, Knoll International and Eero Saarinen launched the famous Pedestal Collection: the Tulip Chairs and the matching Saarinen Dining Tables, which both manage without the conventional four chair or table legs, are today unrivalled classics in furniture history.

Sustainability

Knoll has long demonstrated a high level of sensitivity in the areas of climate responsibility, certification and sustainable design; which means, amongst other aspects, the company tries to make the entire manufacturing process as environmentally friendly as possible, from material procurement and packaging through to sales. Through the use of recycled, recyclable or similar sustainable materials, Knoll International aims to minimise environmental impact. Something reinforced by the particularly high quality of Knoll furniture, which can ideally be passed on from generation to generation due to their long service life. The manufacturer has received several awards for its environmental and conservation efforts and was the first furniture company to have ISO and ISO 14001 certification in the US and Europe. In 2004, Knoll was also founding sponsor of the Modernism at Risk Program of the World Monuments Fund, an initiative dedicated to preserving modern buildings around the world that are in danger of deterioration and demolition.

smow sells exclusively originals from licensed manufacturers and is an official trading partner of Knoll International.