Florence Knoll is an American architect and furniture designer who had the famously private architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe as a mentor. Knoll was awarded the National Endowment for the Arts' prestigious 2002 National Medal of Arts for her contributions to design and architecture. She believed that architects should design furniture as well and was fundamental in the development of interior design from the 1940s to the 1970s. Knoll’s own designs were governed by her architectural training and took into account the composition and relationship of the pieces with the interior spaces as a whole.
Her characteristic polished silhouettes and geometrics are evident in the Florence Knoll Sofa (1954; Mendosa Sofa and Marco Sofa), which is a scaled-down reinterpretation of the mid-century modern building. The Florence Knoll Sofa has a fully tufted seat and back, making it as comfortable as it is stylish, as well as exposed metal frame and legs.
