Saarinen
$ 21,971
Knoll: the Planning Unit — how Florence Knoll invented the modern American office
Before open plans and workplace strategy, there was the Planning Unit: Florence Knoll's team measured how companies actually worked and designed offices around it — inventing, in the process, the modern American workplace. Her house carries the lineage: 75 years of «Modern always», the Barcelona Chair and Bertoia's and Saarinen's icons in continuous production, and current office lines by Antenna Design and Piero Lissoni. A century of design from thirty global names — still working for a living.
La Mercanti supplies US projects with the full range — office systems and living icons — largely made in Italy, coordinated to your floor plan.
FAQ
What made the Planning Unit revolutionary?
Method: it studied the client's organisation before drawing — furniture followed workflow, not fashion. Most of what workplace consultants sell today descends from that idea.
Where are Knoll products made today?
Largely in Italy: the American modern canon, manufactured with Italian industrial craft — a combination that shows in the finish of every edition.
How to plan an office like the Planning Unit
Florence Knoll's method in five modern steps.
Interview before you draw
The org chart and the day's rhythms come first.
Zone by interaction
Focus, collaboration and client-facing areas each get their logic.
Standardize the workstation
A repeatable module scales without chaos.
Place icons with intent
Classics mark the moments that matter: arrival, decision.
Review against the work
Six months in, measure the plan against reality.