Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/845169
were moved to sleek credenzas behind the desk. She freshened dark offices with light paint, sometimes including a single wall of bright color, or covering walls in colorful felt to soften acoustics. "I don't merely decorate a space," she said. "I create it." Florence launched a textiles division and expanded Hans' existing collaborations with designers such as Isamu Noguchi and Jens Risom, with a design development component to nurture young designers. From this hothouse environment came Richard Schultz's petal table, and sculptor Harry Bertoia's wire Diamond chairs. When Florence asked Eero Saarinen to create a "chair like a big basket of pillows," the result was his now-iconic Womb chair. In 1947, Knoll teamed with woodworker George Nakashima, whose sculptural tables and chairs were Shaker-like in their simplicity. In 1953, Mies van der Rohe granted the rights to reproduce his Barcelona chair and stool, which is now a signature for the Knoll brand and has never been out of production. The practice of issuing pieces by individual designers and paying them licensing fees was a new idea, but one that eventually became industry standard. Florence was demanding when it came to quality, raising the level of construction at the factory, and perfecting design details with extraordinary precision. When Hans died in 1955, many assumed the company would be sold. Instead, Florence took over as president. In 1957, while working on the interiors for the First National Bank of Miami, she met bank chairman Harry Hood Bassett. They married the following year. After more than 20 years at Knoll, she retired in 1965. In the decades since, the company has continued the collaborations Florence initiated with great creative intellects, and added new ones — Warren Platner, Hans Wegner, Marcel Breuer, Rem Koolhaas, and Frank Gehry among them. The global empire Florence helped build, which includes Knoll Associates, KnollTextiles, Knoll International, and hundreds of offices and showrooms in the United States and abroad, has grown into one of the largest and most prestigious companies in the world. In 2002, Florence was awarded a National Medal of Arts by the United States Congress and is living a quiet and secluded life in Miami (Harry Bassett died in 1991). While not much is known about her publicly, there is one enduring certainty: Florence Knoll remains, without a doubt, the single most influential figure in the field of modern design — a living legend. Florence Knoll white marble table and Saarinen Executive armchairs ART+DECORATION RAUSCHENBERG IN RESIDENCE C o i n c i d i n g w i t h the retrospective of late post-war Pop artist Robert Rauschenberg at New York's Museum of Modern Art, West Elm has collaborated w i t h t h e R o b e r t R a u s c h e n b e r g F o u n d a t i o n t o produce a 17-piece c o l l e c t i o n o f d e c o r a t i v e accessories and furniture. It's all part of the Foundation's Art for Good initiative, w h i c h p a r t n e r s with youthful brands (Skateroom, Warby Parker) to introduce Rauschenberg's work to a new generation. West Elm is a sponsor of the MoMA exhibition, "Robert Rauschenberg: Among Friends," which features more than 250 paintings, sculptures, photographs, and prints (through September 17). For the in-store collection, West Elm has incorporated Rauschenberg's t r a d e m a r k b o l d brushstrokes and Neo Dadaist work onto china, textiles, dining chairs, and a sofa. Ten percent of sales benefit t h e R o b e r t Rauschenberg F o u n d a t i o n ' s grants in art, social justice, education, and climate change. $10 to $1,299, at West Elm, Mockingbird Station, westelm.com. Anne Lee Phillips Art for Good Rauschenberg + West Elm Collection. Rauschenberg scoop-back chair, $99; at right, Rauschenberg salad plate, $10 57