Modern Icons: Florence Knoll Table Desk
Knoll's simplified office furniture design can serve as executive desk or chic dining table
Whenever Florence Knoll saw a hole in the furniture market, she'd fill it herself. Her meat-and-potatoes creations were often basic pieces that could perform several functions and fit in with many other modern pieces. Seeing a lack of choices in the office furniture marketplace, she created the 1961 Executive Collection and revolutionized office design. Here's a look at a primary piece in the collection, the Florence Knoll Table Desk, and some beautiful rooms that show off its stylistic and functional versatility.
Knoll's approach to office furniture design revolutionized modern office space in the early 1960s. The table desk comes in several sizes and can serve as a conference table or desk in offices, as well as a dining table at home. Here the table is paired with her mentor and friend Eero Saarinen's Executive Chairs, which were also originally designed as office furniture. Knoll's table and Saarinen's chairs both transition into the home with ease.
Florence Knoll Table Desk
The Table Desk has an unadorned strong modern silhouette, made up of an oval top combined with an angular metal base. Tops are available in a wide variety of finishes including white laminate, natural woods, wood veneers and marble.
Office chic in the dining room abounds in this open floor plan. With so many people working out of their homes today, creating a dining space that easily transforms into a conference space and/or a desk is a practical and stylish solution.
A dark, glossy oval table paired with red Eames Aluminum Management Chairs revs up office style.
The same combination of furniture takes on a completely different look in white and chrome.
Here's a look at a marble-topped Table Desk with tall white task chairs in a minimalist office space. If I were the office manager here, I would ban all Sharpies in this room.
The simple silhouette makes it a perfect choice in a room full of iconic mid-century furnishings.
A wood-topped version used as a dining table adds warmth to this two-story, completely open space. This room contains quite a collection of iconic pieces, including a Corbusier Chair, and Eames Compact Sofa, a trio of Nelson Pendant Lights, Saarinen's Tulip Armchairs and Side Table, and Mies van der Rohe's Brno Chairs.
Note how well the finish on the legs of the table work with the finish on the Brno Chairs. Knoll designed with Bauhaus principles in mind, making this Knoll/Mies van der Rohe pairing beautifully simpatico.
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