3 ms·

Florence Knoll Bassett, Designer of the Modern American Office, Has Died

Gibbon1 8y ago
> Her “total design” favored open work spaces over private offices Good riddance.
- JohnJamesRambo 8y ago
  You went way too far.
  - anoncoward111 8y ago
    Regardless of this woman's unfortunate passing, open offices are seriously ruining millions of peoples lives.
    - throwawaymath 8y ago
      Doesn't this seem just a tad hyperbolic? If open offices are "seriously ruining" millions of peoples' lives, then what in the world is abject poverty doing to them? In the universe of things that could ruin someone's life, working in an open office floor plan ranks pretty low. Don't turn inconveniences into catastrophes.
    - UnpossibleJim 8y ago
      No offense meant or anything, but living to 101 is hardly an "unfortunate passing". I can only hope to have a life so long. And yeah, open offices are a plague passed to its employees as community when it's really cost savings. Still, a bit rude to so callously celebrate a person's death, but such is life (and death).
    - Aloha 8y ago
      Open offices are great for some kinds of work, just not for programming or most technical work.
- throwawaymath 8y ago
  You act as if Knoll pioneered open offices specifically to slight you. When Knoll was getting started the modern population of software engineers didn't exist. You can't reasonably lay your grievances with tech office design at the feet of a design agency which fostered the movement half a century ago.
- dang 8y ago
  This comment breaks the site guidelines, which ask: "Please don't post shallow dismissals, especially of other people's work." https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
throwawaymath 8y ago
That's sad to hear, but I was unaware she was still alive. I'm a huge fan of the Knoll design ethos - a few years ago I purchased a Barcelona chair [1], and it remains my favorite piece of furniture for reading. If you are ever in New York and want to take a gander at some of the iconic pieces in person, the Design & Decoration Building has a Knoll showroom. A few years ago I also saw many Knoll pieces in a modern furniture exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art, but I don't think that's still showing. ____________________ 1. Technically Knoll didn't design the Barcelona, that was Ludwig Mies van der Rohe almost a century ago. But Knoll licensed the design and commercialized it.

> Her “total design” favored open work spaces over private offices Good riddance.

JohnJamesRambo 8y ago
You went way too far.
- anoncoward111 8y ago
  Regardless of this woman's unfortunate passing, open offices are seriously ruining millions of peoples lives.
  - throwawaymath 8y ago
    Doesn't this seem just a tad hyperbolic? If open offices are "seriously ruining" millions of peoples' lives, then what in the world is abject poverty doing to them? In the universe of things that could ruin someone's life, working in an open office floor plan ranks pretty low. Don't turn inconveniences into catastrophes.
  - UnpossibleJim 8y ago
    No offense meant or anything, but living to 101 is hardly an "unfortunate passing". I can only hope to have a life so long. And yeah, open offices are a plague passed to its employees as community when it's really cost savings. Still, a bit rude to so callously celebrate a person's death, but such is life (and death).
  - Aloha 8y ago
    Open offices are great for some kinds of work, just not for programming or most technical work.
throwawaymath 8y ago
You act as if Knoll pioneered open offices specifically to slight you. When Knoll was getting started the modern population of software engineers didn't exist. You can't reasonably lay your grievances with tech office design at the feet of a design agency which fostered the movement half a century ago.
dang 8y ago
This comment breaks the site guidelines, which ask: "Please don't post shallow dismissals, especially of other people's work." https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

That's sad to hear, but I was unaware she was still alive. I'm a huge fan of the Knoll design ethos - a few years ago I purchased a Barcelona chair [1], and it remains my favorite piece of furniture for reading. If you are ever in New York and want to take a gander at some of the iconic pieces in person, the Design & Decoration Building has a Knoll showroom. A few years ago I also saw many Knoll pieces in a modern furniture exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art, but I don't think that's still showing. ____________________ 1. Technically Knoll didn't design the Barcelona, that was Ludwig Mies van der Rohe almost a century ago. But Knoll licensed the design and commercialized it.