Press Release
Knoll Presents the New Collections and Iconic Products at the 2018 Salone Internazionale del Mobile
Milan, 17 April 2018 – At the 57th Salone Internazionale del Mobile, Knoll celebrates its 80th anniversary, presenting new collections and iconic designs that reaffirm the creative vision that has made the brand famous all over the world.
Andrew Cogan, CEO of Knoll, Inc., comments: “It has been over 50 years since there has been a ‘Knoll’ at Knoll. The DNA that Hans and Florence left us with has been strong and enduring. There has always been this great mix of celebrating the remarkable ‘salesmanship’ from Hans’ background with a commitment to the best in design from Florence, which has been at the core of our success. Our company is strong, which allows us to say ‘Knoll is modern always because modern always works.’ These are the modern principles upon which we were founded: the commitment to enduring quality and design, a belief that design is, as Florence said, about understanding a client's needs and solving a problem, with integrity and clarity. Such design will always be modern.”
The new collections presented this year by Knoll and designed by Piero Lissoni establish a perfect dialogue with the architect’s latest creations already in the catalogue. This year Lissoni has designed KN Collection by Knoll, a family of armchairs based on an absolute balance between modernity and tradition. The collection features a range of materials that set every creation apart, underlining the sophisticated spirit that looks to the future, while at the same time paying tribute to the great design of the past: accents to scatter freely in residential spaces, but also versatile solutions for the contract market.
This seating collection is joined by the Red Baron bookshelf, a versatile modular system that relies on the material impact of a structure in metal, glass and wood, with essential lines that make the product eclectic and customizable. Based on observation of a detail of an airplane wing, Lissoni has designed Red Baron by combining parts that gradually become lighter, tapering into a slender sheet of metal rendered sophisticated by the almost imperceptible thickness and by the finish itself. Delicate but forceful lines generate a harmonious aesthetic balance, the result of removal of any superfluous elements, to convey a sense of captivating appeal and vivid emotions, in a project that puts a clear accent on its contemporary character.
This year, among the others, a striking novelty. Knoll has introduced the Newson Aluminum Chair by Marc Newson, embodying the company’s celebration of 80 years of innovative modern design. Honoring the cantilevered chairs of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, a forefather of Modernism, Newson’s design, 90 years later, is a forward-looking expression that synthesizes simplicity, material and precision, in the Modernist tradition.
Defined by a single uninterrupted line, the design brings Marc Newson’s signature combination of organic forms and precision engineering to the Knoll seating portfolio. Echoing the futuristic vocabulary that characterizes his work, the side chair for Knoll marries hard and soft, solid and transparent, in a striking form that seems to levitate in space.
In addition to these novelties, for its 80th anniversary Knoll pays tribute to design originality, creating a special edition of the Butterfly chair. The year 1938 was a very fertile one for design history: among many developments, the Knoll company was founded, and a very special chair was designed, which Hans Knoll decided to include in the firm’s catalogue from 1947 to 1951, as the Model no. 198. Thanks to the technological prowess and fine craftsmanship of Knoll, today’s Butterfly has sinuous, dynamic lines, which are also made possible by the quality of the materials involved: the structure is in chromium-plated or coated steel, in white or black, while the seat is made with thermoformed felt. Today this chair is still recognized as a classic of modernity, a crossover success story, a symbol of lightness and freedom, but also of an elegance that is simultaneously informal and refined.
Once again this year Knoll has called on OMA, the famous design firm co-founded by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, to design and install the stand at the Salone del Mobile. This time the project takes its cue from the minimalist design of Marcel Breuer, as applied in the original project for the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. The pavilion features a replica of the modular suspended ceiling he designed for the museum. The space is organized with a double grid – ceiling and floor – both made as flexible Cartesian infrastructures to respond to the layout of the space. Modular design, prefabrication and geometry give rise to a versatile, functional space. The path through the stand reveals new nuances of renowned design icons mixed with the latest creations, harmoniously shifting from subtle details to elegant, unexpected ensembles.
"Since 2013 we have paid particular attention to the design of the booth at the Salone, and OMA is able in every solution created for Knoll to underline the contribution of our founders to bring the benefits of modern design to both residential contexts and the workplace," says Demetrio Apolloni, President of Knoll Europe.
For Benjamin Pardo, Executive Vice-President for Design at Knoll, “Hans and Florence Knoll put together an incredible team, a remarkable mixture of great masters and young talent, creating a catalogue in which the ‘sculptural’ pieces were inserted in a harmonious framework of ‘architectural’ pieces (as Florence herself called them, though she also used the expression ‘meat and potatoes’). This factor of the mix is still fundamental for us today, because what sets Knoll apart from the others is the fact that we do not make single products, but try to find a balance between sculptural and architectural, designing for complete spaces.”
Knoll
Salone Internazionale del Mobile
Rho Fiera Milano
Hall 20
Stand D09/E16
17-22 April
9.30 am - 6.30 pm
Knoll Showroom Milano
Piazza Bertarelli 2
20122 Milan
17-21 April
10 am - 8 pm
Contacts
For European-based Media Requests
Knoll Europe
Federica Paleari
f.paleari@knolleurope.com; press@knolleurope.com
t. +39 02 72 22 29 34
For Media Requests in France
LFO_Liza Fitoussi Office
contact@agencelfo.com
t. +33 1 48781578
For Media Requests in Germany, Austria and Switzerland
hicklvesting Public Relations
Barbara Hickl
berlin@hicklvesting.com
t. +49 30 319 903 88
Nicole Vesting
munich@hicklvesting.com
t. +49 89 383 801 85
For Media Requests in North America
Knoll, Inc.
David E. Bright
dbright@knoll.com
t. +1 212 343-4135
Lucas Onetti
lonetti@knoll.com
t. +1 212 343-4030