Florence Knoll™ Model 31 Lounge Chair

Stylish, well-proportioned and comfortable, the Florence Knoll Model 31 Lounge Chair typifies Florence Knoll’s architectural eye for design.

A Florence Knoll design

Seventy years since its debut, the Florence Knoll Model 31 speaks effortlessly in a contemporary voice. With its tubular steel bases and thoughtfully scaled cushions, this pedigreed piece has a light visual footprint. It offers a supportive sit with a casual posture, making it a versatile option for the modern home or office.

Scale and proportion

Model 31 exemplifies the kind of approachable seating option that can be scaled up or down as an organization’s needs evolve. Lightweight, strong, and stylish, it can be used to convey a sense of welcome in any context, from office and hospitality settings to the home.

An ideal canvas

Model 31 lends itself easily to different types of upholstery thanks to the rectilinear shape and streamlined construction of its cushions. The ideal opportunity to specify custom textiles, choose from colorful weaves to durable leather and vinyl, all with the high-quality craftsmanship, timeless aesthetics, and historical significance for which Knoll is known.

Product story

With her architect’s eye and keen sense of proportion, Florence Knoll knew that furniture could make daily life a well-designed pleasure. She humbly referred to her contributions to the Knoll furniture catalog as its “meat and potatoes,” but she applied smart style to ergonomic principles so deftly that many decades since its inception, her Model 31 speaks in a contemporary voice.

Florence Knoll’s experience leading the Knoll Planning Unit led to a holistic understanding of interiors and special attention to scale and proportion in her furniture designs. She understood the importance of comfort and pursued it with the same exacting perfectionism that gave all her designs their trademark precision and style.

The Florence Knoll Model 31 and Model 33 were reissued in late 2023, nearly seventy years since their original debut.

Florence Knoll

After demonstrating an early interest in architecture, Florence Schust was enrolled at the Kingswood School for Girls, adjacent to the Cranbrook Academy of Art. There she met Eilel Saarinen, and went on to study under some of the greatest 20th century architects, including Gropius, Breuer, and Mies van der Rohe.

With Florence’s design skills and her husband Hans’ business acumen and salesmanship, the pair grew Knoll into an international arbiter of style and design. In creating the revolutionary Knoll Planning Unit, Florence Knoll defined the standard for the modern corporate interiors of post-war America.

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