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SUMMARY:Neighbours: Lectures on History & Theory of Architecture\, Vol.1. 
 Lecture 5 / TPOD\, ACHT\, THEMA\, HITAM
DTSTART:20230517T180000
DTEND:20230517T190000
DTSTAMP:20260916T032135Z
UID:4884275fea88ff7fa7258b279c51d26dae1f9f700c82fe9e3dbe2ba1
CATEGORIES:Conferences - Seminars
DESCRIPTION:Fredie Floré is an engineer‐architect and holds a PhD in Ar
 chitectural History (University of Ghent\, 2006). Since October 2014 she i
 s affiliated to the KU Leuven\, Faculty of Architecture. Floré teaches co
 urses in history and theory of architecture and interior architecture. She
  is a founding member of the research group Architecture Interiority Inhab
 itation (https://architectuur.kuleuven.be/a2i). Her current research focus
 es on the representational role of architecture\, interiors and furniture 
 design in the second half of the 20th century. She is co-editor of The P
 olitics of Furniture. Identity\, Diplomacy and Persuasion in Post-war Inte
 riors (Routledge 2017\, with Cammie McAtee) and of the Special Collection
  on ‘Architecture and Bureaucracy’ in Architectural History (2022\, 
 with Ricardo Costa Agarez and Rika Devos).\nLecture 5: 'Furniture\, Archit
 ecture and Politics. The History of Knoll International' by Fredie Floré 
 (KU Leuven)\nDesign history has in no way neglected Knoll. The US-based co
 mpany\, its founders Hans and Florence Knoll\, and the architects or desig
 ners who worked with them are included in virtually every history of moder
 n furniture and monographic studies have studied their most iconic product
 s. Scholarship on Knoll\, however\, has largely followed the narrative est
 ablished in richly illustrated catalogues and books by authorized Knoll au
 thors. While these books contribute valuable knowledge of the company and 
 rightfully situate the company’s early history in the postwar political 
 climate\, they often recount a classic American success story centering on
  the two Knolls and the furniture and designers who collaborated with them
  in New York between the 1940s and early 60s. Also the impressive overseas
  expansion of the company under the name of Knoll International is first a
 nd foremost referenced or discussed from the perspective of the parent com
 pany in the US. \nThis lecture presents an ongoing research line\, develo
 ped in collaboration with dr. Cammie McAtee\, that challenges this essenti
 alist narrative. Based on recently published case-studies on Knoll in the 
 Benelux and in France and on ongoing exploratory research in preparation o
 f two new publications\, it shows that Knoll’s international expansion w
 as not simply a case of one-way influence. In many countries where a licen
 see or subsidiary was established\, the company initiated sometimes unexpe
 cted transcultural and transdisciplinary dialogues\, particularly involvin
 g local architecture\, design and art communities. Studying these dialogue
 s\, the research aims to show\, is critical to understanding Knoll’s pol
 itical and cultural relevance in the US as well as abroad. 
LOCATION:SG 294.22 https://plan.epfl.ch/?room==SG%20294.22
STATUS:CONFIRMED
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