Abstract Florence Schust Knoll Bassett (1917-2019) was a distinguished interior and furniture designer, architect, and entrepreneur. A 1934 Kingswood School for Girls graduate, she attended Cranbrook Academy of Art, studying architecture with Eliel Saarinen, interior design with Rachel de Wolfe Raseman, and weaving with Lilian Holm. Schust ultimately graduated with an Academy degree in Architecture in 1939, after spending a year at Barnard College, Columbia University and a year with the...

Scope and Contents From the Collection: The collection contains selected documentation of Florence Knoll Bassett's life and work, mainly in two books that she created for that purpose (1932-1990). The Florence Knoll Bassett book is written in her own words and comprises "the summary of my life and career that began in Kingswood-Cranbrook," demonstrating "the importance of my relationship with the Saarinen Family." The second book of selected publications sets her work "in order of time and subject to indicate how events...

Abstract Eliel Saarinen, along with his wife Loja, son Eero, daughter Pipsan, and son-in-law J. Robert F. Swanson, founded a creative tradition at Cranbrook that endures to this day. The Saarinens' fame and design philosophies attracted many of the brightest talents in the architectural, design, and planning fields to study at Cranbrook or to work for their businesses --- known variously as Saarinen and Swanson; Saarinen and Saarinen; Saarinen, Swanson, and Saarinen; Swanson Associates; and Eero...