| Type | Public (NYSE: KNL) |
|---|---|
| Industry | Manufacturing |
| Founded | 1938 |
| Founder(s) | Hans and Florence Knoll |
| Headquarters | East Greenville, Pennsylvania, USA |
| Key people | Florence Knoll |
| Products | Designer furniture |
| Website | www.knoll.com |
Knoll is a design firm that produces office systems, seating, files and storage, tables and desks, textiles (KnollTextiles), and accessories for office and for the home. The company also manufactures furniture for the home by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Harry Bertoia, Florence Knoll (Florence Schust), Frank Gehry, Maya Lin and Eero Saarinen 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.
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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 three other major manufacturing sites: Toronto, Grand Rapids, and Muskegon. In addition, the company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and trades under the symbol:KNL
Many of the company's product are included in museum collections.[1]
Knoll sponsors exhibitions, scholarships, and other activities related to modern 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 innovative design solutions for imperiled Modern buildings, provides funding for conservation projects, and raises awareness of the threats to Modern architecture through exhibitions and lectures. The World Monuments Fund/Knoll Modernism Prize is awarded biennially to a designer or design firm in recognition of projects that preserve Modern landmarks.[2]
In 2008, the first award was given to Winfried Brenne and Franz Jaschke of the firm Brenne Gesellschaft von Architekten. The colleagues received the Knoll Modernism Prize for their restoration of a school in Germany built in 1930. They were presented with the Prize at a dinner with over 70 attendees at the Knoll showroom in New York.
In 2011, Knoll received the prestigious National Design Award for Corporate and Institutional Achievement from the Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum. The award honors excellence in design and the public impact of the Knoll body of work. Past winners include the U.S. Green Building Council, Google, Nike, Aveda, and Apple, with Knoll being the first furniture manufacturer bestowed with this honor.