Knoll, Florence, 1917-

Florence Knoll Bassett (1917-) is an architect and designer from Coconut Grove, Fla.

Born Florence Schust in 1917, and orphaned at age 12, Knoll began her architectural studies at the Kingswood School in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., and was virtually adopted by the family of Eliel Saarinen. She continued her studies at Cranbook Academy of Art, the Architectural Association in London, and the Illinois Institute of Technology under Mies van der Rohe, where she received her architectural degree. In 1946, she married Hans Knoll, owner of the Hans G. Knoll Furniture Company (est. 1938), NYC, and the firm became known as Knoll Associates, Inc. In 1958, she married Florida banker Harry Hood Bassett. She resigned from Knoll in 1965.

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