Designed by Florence Knoll
Used as a bench, ottoman or coffee table, new Relaxed Benches bring a softer sit and new sizes to the Florence Knoll Collection. The original design has been updated with a lower horizon to complement today's more casual lifestyle. Consistent with all of her designs, each piece has a spare, geometric profile that reflects the objective perfectionism and rational approach Florence Knoll learned from her mentor, Mies van der Rohe.
Product story:
As head of the Knoll Planning unit, Florence Knoll always approached furniture design with the larger space in mind. Most important to her was how a piece fit into the greater design - the room, the floor, the building. Every element of a Knoll-planned space supported the overall design and complemented the existing architecture.
Never one to compromise, Florence would often design furniture when she, "needed the piece of furniture for a job and it wasn't there. And while she never regarded herself as a furniture designer, her quest for harmony of space and consistency of design led her to design several of Knoll's most iconic pieces-all simple, none plain.
As skyscrapers rose up across America during the post-war boom, Florence Knoll saw it as her job to translate the vocabulary and rationale of the modern exterior to the interior space of the corporate office. Thus, unlike Saarinen and Bertoia, her designs were architectural in foundation, not sculptural. She scaled down the rhythm and details of modern architecture while humanizing them through color and texture. Her lounge collection, designed in 1954, is a perfect example of her restrained, geometric approach to furniture, clearly derived from her favorite mentor, Mies van der Rohe.
Specifications - Construction and Details:
- Available in a range of KnollTextiles and Spinneybeck® leathers
- Exposed metal frame and legs in heavy gauge steel and inner frame of solid wood
- Seat cushion tufted and covered with polyester fiberfill to enhance comfort
- No buttons on textile or leather upholstery
- KnollStudio logo and Florence Knoll's signature are stamped into the base frame
Sustainable Design and Environmental Certification:
Learn more about Florence Knoll™ Relaxed Benches product certifications and materials at Ecomedes.
Last Updated 4 months
