Florence Knoll Sold at Auction Prices

b. 1917 - d. 2019

Florence Marguerite Knoll Bassett (née Schust; May 24, 1917 – January 25, 2019) was an American architect, interior designer, furniture designer, and entrepreneur who has been credited with revolutionizing office design and bringing modernist design to office interiors. Knoll and her husband, Hans Knoll, built Knoll Associates into a leader in the fields of furniture and interior design. She worked to professionalize the field of interior design, fighting against gendered stereotypes of the decorator. She is known for her open office designs, populated with modernist furniture and organized rationally for the needs of office workers. Her modernist aesthetic was known for clean lines and clear geometries that were humanized with textures, organic shapes, and colour.

She married Hans Knoll in 1946; he died in a car crash in 1955. In 1958 she married Harry Hood Bassett, the son of Harry H. Bassett. On 25 January 2019, Florence Marguerite Knoll Bassett died at age 101 in Coral Gables, Florida.