EAST GREENVILLE, Pa. — Knoll will present new designs by Piero Lissoni and Barber & Osgerby with reimagined Modern classics at Salone Internazionale del Mobile, Milan’s international furnishings fair that will take place April 9 - 14. The installation, designed by OMA, a Dutch-based architecture firm co-founded by Rem Koolhaas, mimics Marcel Breuer's original design of the Whitney Museum of American Art. The Knoll OMA pavilion is located at booth Hall 20, Stand D11/E14.
For the 58th Salone Internazionale del Mobile, Knoll will also celebrate the Bauhaus centennial, presenting new collections and iconic products that together emphasize the Knoll modernist tradition.
New product introductions include:
- Gould, Piero Lissoni’s new family of classic-contemporary style upholstered furniture inspired by the culture and architecture of the American fifties
- Additions to Lissoni’s KN Collection, including KN04, a compact chair with four fixed legs, and KN05, a linear, two-seat settee with a metal structure that evokes a visual weightlessness
- The Smalto collection of enameled steel tables designed by Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby which epitomize design purity and graphic simplicity
In keeping with the brand’s “Modern Always” ethos, these new designs will be presented alongside modern classics by Florence Knoll, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Eero Saarinen and Harry Bertoia. Honoring the brand’s historical ties to the Bauhaus, Knoll has also created commemorative, “Bauhaus Editions” of the MR Collection and the Barcelona Chair®. In addition, the display features Lissoni’s recently introduced Avio Sofa System and Red Baron bookcase.
Commenting on the Knoll presence at Salone, Andrew Cogan, Knoll Chairman and CEO, noted, “We can truly say that ‘Knoll is always modern because modern always works,’ based on the underlying principles of our company: the commitment to design quality and the conviction that design – as Florence Knoll said – means the ability to understand the needs of the client, to solve a problem with integrity and clarity. This will always be modern.”
Knoll Celebrates Bauhaus
Knoll will feature “Knoll Celebrates Bauhaus,” an exhibition curated by OMA in collaboration with Domitilla Dardi, design curator and historian, at its Piazza Bertarelli 2 showroom, April 9th – 14th.
“We felt strongly about making this project become a concrete reality precisely during a week of such great importance for international design,” Demetrio Apolloni, President of Knoll Europe, explained. “It is an exhibition that underscores the strong bond between our company and the Modern Movement.”
The Bauhaus, the German school that exerted a unique influence on the modern evolution of design, was founded 100 years ago. Its legacy is intertwined with that of Knoll through company co-founder Florence Knoll who studied with Bauhaus masters - Walter Gropius, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Marcel Breuer. Florence Knoll also adapted Modernist principles with those of the American Modern movement to create a new “total design” approach relating architecture, people and furniture.
The exhibition explores the work of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Florence Knoll and Marcel Breuer. Divided into a series of “clusters,” each area thematically frames the work of the respective designer; there are also two spaces that combine Knoll designs from across the decades. Together, the various vignettes paint an homage to the ever-present modern ideologies put forth by the Bauhaus.
About Knoll
Knoll Inc. is working together with our clients to create inspired modern interiors. Our internationally recognized portfolio includes furniture, textiles, leathers, accessories, and architectural and acoustical elements. A recipient of the National Design Award for Corporate and Institutional Achievement from the Smithsonian`s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Knoll, Inc. is aligned with the U.S. Green Building Council and the Canadian Green Building Council and can help organizations achieve the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) workplace certification. Our products can also help clients comply with the International Living Future Institute to achieve Living Building Challenge Certification, and with the International WELL Building Institute to attain WELL Building Certification. Knoll, Inc. is the founding sponsor of the World Monuments Fund Modernism at Risk program.
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