Hans Knoll
Hans Knoll ( born August 1914 in Stuttgart, † 1955 in Havana ) was a German entrepreneur. He founded in 1938 in New York, the " Hans G. Knoll Furniture Company ", which was a pioneer of designer furniture manufacturers through its cooperation with Bauhaus artists.
Career
Knoll was born as the son of manufacturer Walter Knoll and grandson of Robert Vollmöller. Together with his older brother Robert He attended Founded in 1920 by Kurt Hahn Schule Schloss Salem. He left school in 1934 without a degree and began an apprenticeship that took him to England ( to Parker Knoll, licensee of Knoll furniture ) and Switzerland ( for Vollmoeller Textil AG ). In 1938 he moved to the United States.
Knoll Furniture Company
Just a month after his arrival, he founded the " Hans G. Knoll Furniture Company ". Through his father, and by his uncle Karl Gustav Vollmoeller he was acquainted with renowned architects and designers such as Walter Gropius, Marcel Breuer and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe since childhood. The name of his uncle and his father opened him access to the emigrated to the United States architects and designers, who first introduced him their furniture designs without pay available. At the same time, he used the well-known name to sell the furniture. The furniture designer received from the sale as book authors royalties.
He worked in 1943 with the test site Dugway Proving Ground in Utah, the so-called German village, a realistic replica of Berlin tenements. Here, various explosive and incendiary bombs were tested for their effect on the particular design.
1943 Hans Knoll learned his future wife, Florence Schust, a familiar architecture and design student. They married in 1946 in New York. Best man was Uncle Hans Karl Gustav Vollmoeller, with the young couple lived together at the Sutton Place in New York. Together they led the Knoll Furniture Company under the name " Knoll Associates " on. Thanks to their good contacts succeeded no other furniture company of that time to tie so many well-known designers in: Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Marcel Breuer, Eero Saarinen, Harry Bertoia, Jens Rimsom, Isamu Noguchi.
As a skillful salesman Hans Knoll built after the war ended in 1947 worldwide offices, known as showrooms. His wife, Florence Knoll was responsible for the design and corporate identity of the company. In 1951 he returned to Stuttgart and founded, under the management of his brother Robert, his first foreign branch in Stuttgart.
1955 Hans Knoll died 41 years old in a car accident near Havana. He left behind his widow, Florence, who took over as CEO, as well as two children, Peter and Maria ( Maja ). Hans Knoll was transferred from Cuba to New York and buried there. 1960 sold Florence Knoll, the company, which it was available as a consultant until 1965.