Hasta La Ideas

Dezeen promotion: Milanese architect Piero Lissoni has completed his collection of seating designs for American furniture brand Knoll.

Designed for versatility, Knoll‘s KN Collection is intended for use in the home as well as informal offices. It includes a lounge chair, a high-back chair, an ottoman, two armchairs, a sofa and the latest addition, a four-legged armless chair.

The complete family of designs was presented in a video show that Knoll launched online on Tuesday 25 May 2021. Influenced by fashion shows, the presentation features all the variants in the KN Collection: from the initial KN01 to the latest KN06 and KN07 models.

The seven seating designs are available in multiple variations and are united by their smooth, curved chassis shell and sleek frames.

The KN01 – a sleek, swivel lounge chair with a compact, elegant form – was debuted in 2018. Knoll notes that Lissoni paid special attention to the proportions of the height of the seat and the shell to create a light but generous design.

KN02 is a high back swivel chair that Lissoni describes as “like a cloud”, and was launched in the same year accompanied by the KN03 ottoman.

Equipped with a headrest and a built-in control for adjustment of the reclining position, the KN02 features a hidden mechanism that allows it to shift from an upright posture to a more restful, reclining angle.

In 2019, Knoll introduced the low-slung KN04 armchair together with the KN05 sofa. Both designs have a fixed, four-legged chrome-plated or coated metal rod structure. Their gently curved shells are manufactured in polyurethane, covered in leather or fabric.

“The history of the KN family and its growth is a case of ‘the more you get, the more you want’,” said Lissoni of the collection’s beginnings.

“We began with a swivel chair, then we raised it and added movement. But this chair had to have one special characteristic: it had to seem like a cloud, floating in the air. This led to the 02 with its ottoman, the 03.”

“After that, we asked ourselves, ‘why not make an 04? Perhaps we can slim it a little, lower it, make it more streamlined’. So the 04 came into being, and we thought, ‘well, that is truly a beautiful object… why not do the 05?'” Lissoni continued.

“And so, number by number, we have reached this latest model, the 07. It is a very simple chair, clear and basic, but it contains the DNA of Knoll – in short, when you see it you know it is a Knoll creation.”

For the latest KN07 and KN06 models, the leather or fabric-covered shell rests on four fixed legs, or on a height-adjustable swivel base with four stars on glides, or five stars on casters. Its poised, armless seat joins the inner and outer surfaces in a single, fluid line.

The KN06 armchair – taller than the KN04 and with more upright arms – was launched last year. It is available with a fixed leg or swivel structure, and its fibreglass shell is available in glossy white or glossy black, or covered in fabric or leather.

In September, at the 2021 edition of the Salone del Mobile, the brand plans to unveil a version of the KN06 and KN07 with a column base structure.

Lissoni is a longtime collaborator with Knoll. In a statement, the brand credits him as serving as a “spokesperson” for its “codes and style” over the years, while praising his designs for “discreetly applying a contemporary language while at the same time paying homage to the classics of the past”.

“The long-term collaboration between Piero Lissoni and Knoll has evolved over time in a range of various projects poised halfway between the home and the office: sofas, chairs, armchairs, bookcases and tables like Avio, Gould, Matic, Matrioska, Red Baron, and Grasshopper,” explained the brand.

Find out more about the designs and Knoll’s full range of products by visiting the website. Photography is by Federico Cedrone.

Partnership content

This article was written by Dezeen for Knoll as part of a partnership. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.

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