Knoll Reimagines Florence Knoll’s Storage System With Sam Chermayeff
The new collection expands the 1961 credenza language into shelving, bar cabinets and tables designed for contemporary interiors.
Summary
Knoll taps Sam Chermayeff to reimagine Florence Knoll’s 1961 credenzas.
The storage collection introduces tall shelving, bar cabinets, and table drawers.
Modern updates include striking Dark Python, Iris, and Dark Red Ultra lacquers.
Knoll has introduced the Knoll Chermayeff Storage collection, a new furniture line designed by architect Sam Chermayeff that reimagines the brand’s historic modernist principles for contemporary living. Serving as a direct evolution of Florence Knoll’s iconic 1961 credenzas, the collection honors the rigorous steel, veneer, and marble construction logic of the original pieces while introducing entirely new forms and proportions. The collection falls into a category described by Knoll Creative Director Jonathan Olivares as “adaptive reuse,” extending classic architectural visions to encourage more fluid ways of living and working.
The resulting pieces shift storage from a purely practical necessity into an architectural backdrop for books, objects and personal artifacts. Tall open shelving extends the system vertically, creating a stronger spatial presence while also offering opportunities to subtly divide a room, while a dedicated bar cabinet turns storage into a focal point for entertaining.
Coffee, side and console tables broaden the collection further, incorporating concealed drawers that bring everyday organization into lower, more informal furniture typologies. Visually, the pieces retain the clean geometry and rigor associated with Florence Knoll’s original credenzas, but Chermayeff introduces a more expressive character through altered proportions and a newly energized palette, including Dark Red Ultra, Dark Python and Iris lacquer finishes.
That balance between historical continuity and contemporary flexibility separates Chermayeff Storage from a conventional Knoll reissue. Where restorations typically preserve an existing object through updated materials, finishes or colors, Chermayeff treats Florence Knoll’s original system more like an architectural vocabulary that can be expanded and rearranged according to how people now live, work and gather.
The approach also aligns with Chermayeff’s broader interest in communal living, allowing storage to function as infrastructure for shared spaces while retaining the refinement of the 1961 designs. Knoll Chermayeff Storage is available to purchase through Knoll, bringing the brand’s mid-century foundations into a more adaptable family of furniture for contemporary residential and workplace settings.
