Florence Knoll Bassett, the designer who pioneered the modern open-plan office, has passed away.
As the driving force behind the development of the Knoll furniture brand, and the founder of the company's ground-breaking Planning Unit, Knoll Bassett is considered one of the most influential figures in 20th-century design.
She developed many of the company's design classics, and also commissioned iconic pieces from figures like Eero Saarinen, Harry Bertoia and Isamu Noguchi.
She died on 25 January aged 101, it was announced by Knoll's senior vice-president of communications David E Bright.
"A brilliant design force"
American architecture critic Paul Goldberger is among those who have paid tribute to Knoll Bassett on Twitter, describing her as "a brilliant design force". Florence Knoll Bassett was founder of Knoll's groundbreaking Planning Unit, which pioneered the modern open-plan office
"We have lost one of the great design forces of the 20th century," he said. "Florence Knoll Bassett may have done more than anyone else to create what we think of as the 'Mad Men' design of the midcentury modern workspace."
Fellow critic Alexandra Lange called her "designer of the perfect sofa, talent picker, office queen".
Taught by Mies van der Rohe, Aalto and Gropius
Born Florence Margaret Schust, she was an orphan from the age of 12.
Studying at the Kingswood School for Girls in Michigan, she came under the radar of Finnish archi...