Knoll, Inc.

Knoll (previously Knoll Inc., now a subsidiary MillerKnoll, Inc.), is an American company that manufactures office systems, seating, storage systems, tables, desks, textiles, as well as accessories for the home, office, and higher education.[2] The company is the licensed manufacturer of furniture designed by notable architects and designers such as David Adjaye, Harry Bertoia, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Florence Knoll, Frank Gehry, Charles Gwathmey, Maya Lin, Marc Newson, Ini Archibong, Eero Saarinen, and Lella and Massimo Vignelli,[3] under the company's KnollStudio division. Over 40 Knoll designs can be found in the permanent design collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.[4][5]

The Wassily Chair by Marcel Breuer
Barcelona Chair and Ottoman by Lilly Reich and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
Not to be confused with Parker Knoll.
MillerKnoll, Inc.
TypeSubsidiary
IndustryManufacturing
Founded1938 (1938)
FoundersHans and Florence Knoll
HeadquartersEast Greenville, Pennsylvania, United States
Key people
Christopher M. Baldwin
COO and Group President, MillerKnoll[1]
ProductsDesigner furniture
ParentHerman Miller (2021–present)
Websiteknoll.com
millerknoll.com

History

The company was founded in New York City in 1938 by Hans Knoll. Production facilities were moved to Pennsylvania in 1950. After the death of Hans in 1955, his wife Florence Knoll took over as head of the company. The company is headquartered in East Greenville, Pennsylvania and has manufacturing sites in North America (East Greenville, Grand Rapids, Muskegon, and Toronto) and Italy (Foligno and Graffignana).[6]

In 2011, Knoll received the National Design Award for Corporate and Institutional Achievement from the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum.[7]

The acquisition of Knoll by Herman Miller was announced in April 2021 in a $1.8 billion deal. The merger closed in the third quarter of 2021.[8] The merged company is listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market and trades under the symbol: MLKN.

In July 2021, the company was rebranded as "MillerKnoll".[9][10]

Many of the company's products are on permanent display at MoMA in NYC

Notable designers

Designers who have done work for or whose designs are manufactured by Knoll include:[3][11]

Significant products

Many of the company's products are included in museum collections, such as the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Museum of Modern Art.[15][16]

  • In 1948, Eero Saarinen designed the womb chair[17]
Womb lounge chair by Eero Saarinen
Saarinen table and chairs
  • In 1956, the company commissioned Eero Saarinen to design the Tulip chair for production.[18]
  • Following production of the tulip chair, the tulip table was designed by Saarinen.
  • In 1953, the company was accorded exclusive manufacturing and sales rights to Ludwig Mies van der Rohe furniture, including the Barcelona chair designed in collaboration with Lilly Reich for the 1929 Barcelona Pavilion.
  • The company holds production rights to the Wassily Chair by Marcel Breuer.
  • In 1947, Knoll acquired exclusive U.S. production rights of the Hardoy chair ("Butterfly chair") by Jorge Ferrari-Hardoy. Cheaper imitations flooded the market. Knoll took legal action in 1950, in the end losing their claim of copyright infringement; the model was dropped in 1951.[19][20] In 2018, Knoll rereleased a 100th anniversary tribute to the Butterfly Chair.[21]
Butterfly chair

Architecture preservation

Knoll sponsors exhibitions, scholarships, and other activities related to Modernist architecture and design. In 2006, Knoll and the World Monuments Fund, a New York-based non-profit organization, launched Modernism at Risk, an advocacy and conservation program. Modernism at Risk encourages design solutions for at risk Modernist buildings, provides funding for conservation projects, and raises awareness of the threats to Modernist architecture through exhibitions and lectures.

The World Monuments Fund/Knoll Modernism Prize is awarded every two years to projects that preserve Modernist architecture.

In 2008, the first Knoll Modernism award was given to Winfried Brenne and Franz Jaschke of the German firm Brenne Gesellschaft von Architekten for the restoration of the former ADGB Trade Union School building on the outskirts of Berlin. The school, built between 1928 and 1930, was a project of the Bauhaus design school. The architects were Hannes Meyer, then director of the Bauhaus, and Hans Wittwer.[22]

The 2010 prize went to Hubert-Jan Henket and Wessel de Jonge, the founders of Docomomo International, for the restoration of Zonnestraal Sanatorium (estate) in Hilversum, The Netherlands.[23] The 2012 prize was given to a consortium of Japanese architects and academics for the restoration of the 1950s Hizuchi Elementary School on Shikoku island, Japan.[24]

Similar companies

Notes
  1. In April 2022 Jonathan Olivares joined Knoll as Senior Vice-President of Design.

References
  1. Knoll Our Experts Retrieved from MillerKnoll on 2022-09-29
  2. "Markets". Knoll, Inc. Retrieved 2022-11-30.
  3. "Our Designers". Knoll. Retrieved 2022-11-01.
  4. "Behance". www.behance.net. Retrieved 2020-04-21.
  5. "Knoll Associates, New York, NY | MoMA". The Museum of Modern Art. Retrieved 2022-09-28.
  6. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (March 3, 2014). "KNOLL, INC. Commission File No. 001-12907". SEC. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Retrieved June 3, 2014.
  7. "2011 National Design Awards: Corporate and Institutional Achievement — Knoll". Cooper–Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. 9 December 2011. Retrieved 20 March 2015. On December 1, 2016, Knoll announced the acquisition of the Buffalo, New York-based DatesWeiser Furniture Corporation.
  8. "Furniture Maker Herman Miller to Acquire Knoll in $1.8B Deal". Detroit Business. April 19, 2021. Retrieved June 16, 2021.
  9. "Herman Miller and Knoll announce new name MillerKnoll". Dezeen. 2021-08-05. Retrieved 2022-09-15.
  10. "Herman Miller and Knoll Announce New Name: MillerKnoll". www.knoll.com. Retrieved 2022-09-15.
  11. Keh, Pei-Ru (2023-04-19). "Jonathan Olivares is working wonders at Knoll, as the brand's Salone pavilion attests". wallpaper.com. Retrieved 2023-09-20.
  12. Keh, Pei-Ru (2023-04-19). "Jonathan Olivares is working wonders at Knoll, as the brand's Salone pavilion attests". wallpaper.com. Retrieved 2023-09-20.
  13. "Charles Pfister | Knoll". www.knoll-int.com. Retrieved 2023-03-18.
  14. "Textile Design for Knoll by Angelo Testa". Asheville Art Museum. Retrieved 2023-07-30.
  15. "Knoll Textiles | People | Collection of Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum". collection.cooperhewitt.org. Retrieved 2023-09-20.
  16. "Florence Knoll Bassett: Defining Modern". philamuseum.org. Retrieved 2023-07-30.
  17. Atomic dwelling : anxiety, domesticity, and postwar architecture. Schuldenfrei, Robin. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. 2012. ISBN 9780415676083. OCLC 707965989.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  18. Massey, Anne (2011). Chair. London: Reaktion Books. ISBN 978-1780232492. OCLC 863199531.
  19. "MID Archives: Butterfly Chair". Modern In Denver—Colorado's Design Magazine. 2018-08-21. Retrieved 2021-09-10.
  20. Tribune, Mary Beth Klatt, Special to the. "FLOAT LIKE A BUTTERFLY". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2021-09-10.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  21. "Salone 2018 Butterfly Chair". www.knoll-int.com. Retrieved 2023-02-09.
  22. "Architectuul: ADGB trade union school". 2013. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  23. "World Monuments / Knoll Prize for Modernism 2010. Zonnestraal Sanatorium (1928–1931)" (PDF). Retrieved 6 June 2017.
  24. "World Monuments / Knoll Prize for Modernism 2012. Hizuchi Elementary School (1956–1958)" (PDF). Retrieved 19 November 2018.

Further reading
  • McAtee, Cammie; Floré, Fredie (2017). "Knolling Paris: from the "new look" to Knoll au Louvre". In Floré, Fredie; McAtee, Cammie (eds.). The Politics of Furniture: Identity, Diplomacy and Persuasion in Post-War Interiors. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9781317020479.
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