Knoll inc

(active since 1938)

Knoll, Inc. is an American design company that specialises in producing furnishing and accessories for offices and home studies, such as desks and tables as well as textiles. The firm is known to have collaborated with a wide range of prominent designers under the company's KnollStudio division. The firm bears the name of its founder, Hans Knoll.

Hans Knoll launched the company in New York City in 1938. In 1950, production facilities were relocated to Pennsylvania. After Hans Knoll's death in 1955, his wife Florence Knoll became the company's president. The company is based in East Greenville, Pennsylvania, and manufactures in both North America and Italy. Many unique products created under the auspices of this company are considered iconic in the world of interior design. One of such iconic inventions is the Wassily Chair, also known as the Model B3 chair. The legendary design was elaborated by Marcel Breuer in 1925–1926 while he was the head of the Bauhaus' cabinet making studio in Dessau, Germany. Among other notable patents and significant items by Knoll are the womb chair and the tulip chair by Eero Saarinen, the Hardoy chair by Jorge Ferrari-Hardoy and several pieces of furniture by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.

The Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum awarded Knoll the National Design Award for Corporate and Institutional Achievement in 2011. Knoll also supports Modernist architecture and design through sponsoring exhibits, scholarships, and other events. Modernism at Risk, an advocacy and conservation initiative, was founded in 2006 by Knoll and the World Monuments Fund, a New York-based non-profit organisation. Modernism at Risk promotes creative solutions for endangered Modernist structures, funds conservation initiatives, and educates the public about the challenges to Modernist architecture through exhibits and talks.

As for collaborations, more than 65 world-renowned designers happened to create works for Knoll, Inc. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Harry Bertoia, Florence Knoll (Florence Schust), Frank Gehry, Charles Gwathmey, Maya Lin, Eero Saarinen and Ettore Sotsass are only a few of them to be mentioned. Together with Herman Miller, Knoll is among America’s most famous companies, producing and retailing furniture.