Knoll collaborates with OMA to present an exhibition in Milan celebrating Bauhaus

In celebration of the Bauhaus' centennial year, the modern design firm Knoll collaborates with OMA to create an exhibition highlighting the school's history and evolution of modern design. Knoll's close ties to the iconic German school is in part related thanks to one of  Knoll's founders, Florence Knoll. After her husband Hans Knoll passed away in 1955, Florence took over as the head of the company. For years following Knoll's aesthetic ethos was greatly influenced by Florence's design leadership and affiliation with pioneers at the famed Bauhaus school.

Now in its 100th year, the school is honored by an installation that was curated and designed by Dutch architecture firm OMA. The installation is comprised of four environments which allow for a narrative approach that enable guests to view. According to OMA partner Ippolito Pestellini Laparelli the goal of the installation was in an attempt to "give theatrical form to the multiple relations that connect the emblematic histories of the Bauhaus and Knoll. We have imagined true sets in which different objects exist in an ideal domestic scenario  – a meta-interior – offering the visitor the possibility of activating and discovering them. The iconic products by Marcel Breuer, Mies van der Rohe and Florence Knoll are therefore never separated from the modern ideal of everyday functionality, and come to terms with other objects belonging to a wider historical and cultural context."

Each environment will showcase the influential works of three Bauhaus designers: Marcel Bruer, Mies van der Rohe, and Florence Knoll. Within each section of the exhibit will include objects and furniture pieces designed by each designer. President on Knoll Europe, Demetrio Apolloni states, "We felt strongly about making this project become a concrete reality precisely during a week of such great importance for international design. It is an exhibition that underscores the strong bond between our company and the Modern Movement." 

The Knoll Celebrates Bauhaus exhibition will be on view from  April 9 to April 19. After this debut, the exhibition will travel to the cities of Paris, London, Tokyo, Seoul, and Sydney.