Florence Knoll: Total Design

New Angle: Voice

With her legendary unerring taste and a total commitment to produce absolute perfection in her self, her work, her products, and how she would be remembered, Florence Knoll is generally recognized as the single most powerful figure in the field of modern design.

As an architect, Florence was the force behind the seamless integration of furniture, space, textile, art, graphic design into a perfect brand concept: Total Design. Her influence transcends the specific disciplines, she was the force integrating them, and in her work at the Knoll Planning Unit, she promulgated the values that still motivate architects and designers today: solve the program with scale and detailing appropriate to the interior in support of how people behave in the active environment.

Here she is: Florence Knoll: Total Design.

Special thanks in this episode to Paul Makovsky, Bobbye Tigerman, Alexandra Lange, Dorothy Cosonas, David Bright, Celia Bertoia, Alana Stevens, and Kathy Hiesinger and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The archival audio of Florence Knoll is provided by the Knoll Archives. Thank you to Leah Kalotay for your help with this recording.

This podcast is produced by Brandi Howell, with editorial advising from Alexandra Lange. New Angle Voice is brought to you by the Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation, with support from Knoll, a MillerKnoll company and SOM.