Interior Design Hall of Fame

Florence Knoll Bassett started her architectural studies while in Kingswood School under direction of Eliel Saarinen and Eero Saarinen and continued at Cranbrook Academy of Art. After three years of studying art and architecture on the European continent and London, Ms. Bassett studied with Mies van der Rohe, I.I.T. Chicago and received a Bachelor of Architecture degree in 1941.

After working in architectural firms in Boston and New York, Ms. Bassett joined Hans Knoll in New York to form the Knoll Planning Unit. In 1946 she married Hans Knoll (deceased 1946) and together they developed the firm into Knoll International with showrooms throughout the United States, Europe and Asia. Ms. Bassett became president of Knoll International as well as continuing as design director of the Planning Unit and Design Development for furniture and textiles. She was personally responsible for space planning interiors of many large projects such a university dormitories, banks, office buildings as well as Knoll Showrooms throughout the world. Two of the most widely published projects were the Connecticut General Life Insurance Building in Bloomfield, Connecticut, and the general headquarters building for CBS in New York. Ms. Bassett married Harry Hood Bassett in 1958 (deceased 1991) and retired from Knoll International in 1965. She lives in Florida and Vermont, continuing private work in the design field.