The Designers of Herman Miller

the designers of herman miller book design proposal It is clear through a careful examination of the Herman Miller The design of this book seeks to utilize the same philosophies Company’s history and body of work, the astute attention that and ideologies that the designers of Herman Miller ap- is paid to detail in everything that they design. The unique fo- proached their work with. To reflect the simplicity, modernism cus on both function and form is what initially set the Herman and attention to detail that they exhibit in their work in the de- Miller Company apart form other furniture manufacturers. Un- sign and handling of the book. The book should pay homage der the direction of George Nelson, brilliant designers— to the work and careers of the famous Herman Miller designers Charles and Ray Eames, Isamu Noguchi, Alexander Girard and and reflect their personalities and approach to the problem of others, were able to bring modernism to the forefront of the creating something both functional and visually appealing. design world while creating beautiful and lasting pieces of fur- The book will utilize ample white space and simple, consis- niture. As Nelson said in during his final project, “the aim of the tent layouts, letting the furniture and the rich history of the Her- design process is always to produce an object that does some- man Miller Company become the focus of the piece. The de- thing. In problem solving, the limitations are far more impor- sign should reflect the openness of the Herman Miller tant than the freedoms… The only creative freedom that is designers. The transparency and natural qualities of the world worth anything is found in setting up a problem so that it can fused with the man-made and structural. The book should be solved intelligently.” function in a similar way, to allow the reader to interact and This serves as a central ideology of the Herman Miller Com- view the content naturally and seamlessly. This is achieved pany; that every aspect of a piece first and foremost be de- through the careful combination of text and image to avoid signed so as to best serve its function, then to also be handled distracting the reader’s attention from the rich subject matter in the most visually and aesthetically appealing manner possi- and history of the Herman Miller Company. ble. Everything should have a purpose, and nothing should be done without careful thought and examination. andrew m stauffer the designers of herman Donald Albrecht is an independent curator and curator of architecture and design THE DESIGNERS OF HERMAN MILLER at the Museum of the City of New York. He has organized exhibitions for the Library DONALD ALBRECHT of Congress; Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum; National Building Museum; and the Getty Center. Albrecht has written numerous articles for publications such as The great postwar modern furniture designs are classics, because they are still Architectural Digest, House and Garden, and the New York Times. Among his books miller The Designers of great. Herman Miller, the company that led the office revolution, is a name syn- are Designing Dreams: Modern Architecture in the Movies and The Work of Charles onymous with the best modern residential as well as contract furniture. Classics and Ray Eames: A Legacy of Invention. by super-designers—Charles and Ray Eames, George Nelson, and Isamu Nogu- chi—can still be purchased from the Herman Miller for the Home collection. Their The MIT Press Herman Miller designs, plus the work of more than a dozen other important Herman Miller de- Massachusetts Institute of Technology signers, are described in detail and shown in color and black & white photographs, Cambridge, Massachusetts edited by with original drawings by Nelson and the famous Frykholm picnic posters, all from London, England donald albrecht the Herman Miller archives. This book is essential for collectors, dealers, curators, designers, and other devotees of modernism. http://mitpress.mit.edu 243 illustrations, including 134 plates in color ISBN 0-7643-1119-3 Book and cover design by Andrew M. Stauffer the designers of herman miller The Designers of Herman Miller edited by donald albrecht mit press Fifth printing, 2010 First MIT Press edition, ©2010 Massachusetts Institute of Technology Acknowledgements 3 Introduction 7 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means (including Part One: Designers of mid-century classics 13 photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval) without permission in writing from the publisher. Chapter 1: Charles and Ray Eames 15 Chapter 2: George Nelson 77 Design by Andrew M. Stauffer. Chapter 3: Isamu Noguchi 121 Set in the Avenir type family. Printed and bound in the United States of America. Part Two: Designers of other Herman Miller Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data classics—past, present, and future 125 Chapter 4: Gilbert Rohde 127 Albrecht, Donald. Chapter 5: Alexander Girard 133 Chapter 6: Robert Propst 143 The Designers of Herman Miller/Donald Albrecht. Chapter 7: Jack Kelley 149 Chapter 8: Don Chadwick 155 p. cm. Chapter 9: Bill Stumpf 161 Includes bibliographical references and index. Contents Chapter 10: Tom Newhouse 165 Chapter 11: Geoff Hollington 167 ISBN 0-7643-1119-3 Chapter 12: Bruce Burdick 173 Chapter 13: Stephen Frykholm 179 1. Miller, Herman. 2. Furniture-United States. Chapter 14: Other Designers: 191 3. Designers-United States. Paul Laszio I. Title. Fritz Haller NK1412.E18K57 1995 Poul Kjaerholm 745.4’4922—dc20 Verner Panton 94-24920 Jorgen Rasmussen CIP Peter Protzmann Ray Wilkes Tom Edwards Conclusion 203 Bibliography 209 Index 215 chapter one Charles and Ray Eames pat kirkham 14 15 Much of the Eameses’ work stands in the best tradition of the of architecture is that which touches the heart,2 then it is not design reform movement (which argued for making high-qual- difficult to understand why Paul Schrader and others have re- ity everyday objects available at reasonable prices), and also in ferred to the work of the Eameses in that way.3 It was not simply the best tradition of modernism (which, from the 1920s on, of- their liberal use of hearts and flowers, their direct appeal to fered a vision of harnessing new technologies, industrial pro- what they perceived as universal truths and the inner humanity duction, and relevant design to the service of humankind). of people the world over, or even the power of their ideas and Charles and Ray Eames belonged to a generation of designers the exquisiteness and affectivity of their compositions and im- who, before, during, and immediately after World War II, were agery that made many of their products so memorable; as in a determined to make the world a better place in which to live symphony, the whole was much more than the sum of the parts. but were not wedded to a narrow or solely stylistic definition of In their passion to convey their enthusiasm to others, the modernism. Without ever losing sight of their serious objec- Eameses “shaped not only things but the way people think tives, the Eameses brought to their products a lightness of about things.”4 Their films, exhibitions, and multi-screen pre- spirit that, to a degree, disguised their commitment and dedi- sentations show them to have been at the forefront of new cation. Their furniture, their films, and their exhibitions delight- thinking about the most effective and pleasurable ways of ed the eye, the mind, and the spirit; they also worked well. communicating knowledge to large numbers of people. Their The Eameses’ work was often innovative, although they al- exhibitions and multiple-image shows, in particular, reached ways insisted that designers should innovate only as a last re- large and largely appreciative audiences. Their design work sort.1 They reveled in the particular constraints of specific briefs was respected by the cognoscenti and, at the same time, pop- and in the rationalistic search for the best possible solution to ular in the sense of being seen, used, enjoyed, and admired by the problem at hand, yet they produced work that has been many. In this they achieved the modernist designer’s dream of described as poetic. If, as Frank Lloyd Wright said, the poetry enriching the lives of ordinary people with quality objects pro- 16 1. Charles Eames/Virginia Stith, 1977. 2. Frank Lloyd Wright, An Autobiography (London, 1977), p. 362.s 17 3. Paul Schrader, “Poetry of Ideas,” Film Quarterly, spring 1970, p. 10. See also Blueprints for Modern Living, p. 52. 4. Walter McQuade, “Charles Eames isn’t resting on his chair,” Fortune, February 1975, p. 98. duced by means of the most up-to-date technology. tween the minimalist frames of the Eameses’ buildings and For every designer who was influenced by the Eameses in mus and Bauen und Wohnen, and department stores.9 It in- The multifarious influences on the Eameses’ work, including their “varied and rich” contents was similar to that between the terms of style, there were others who drew strength from their spired many designers, particularly in Italy, West Germany, ideas drawn from the Arts and Crafts movement, from Frank structure and the content of their films and exhibitions.5 commitments to design as a problem-solving exercise, to qual- France, Britain, the Netherlands, and Scandinavia.10 Lloyd Wright, from European modernism, from Japanese archi- Eames products were part of a shift in postwar American ity at every level, and to engagement with a wide range of ac- Eames furniture was manufactured and distributed by the tecture and design, from “primitivism,” from contemporary taste toward favoring organic over geometric forms, and they tivities, issues, and commercial contexts.

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