NYC Furniture Fair Debuts Fresh Palette for the Classic LCW, the 'Design of the Century'
Herman Miller is celebrating the centennial of the birth of Charles Eames with festivities fit for a design legend during this year's International Contemporary Furniture Fair, running May 19 through 22 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City. To mark the 100th anniversary of Eames' birth, Herman Miller is introducing dramatic new color choices for the molded plywood lounge chair with wooden legs (LCW), the original design that connected Charles Eames and his wife, Ray, to Herman Miller, Inc., in 1945.
The Eames 100th birthday theme will be carried forward in the Herman Miller display, located at Booth 1610. The booth itself will be constructed of 14 oversized 6-foot-by-9-foot interlocking "House of Cards," bearing designs celebrating the centennial. The "House of Cards" concept is borrowed from a 1952 toy of the same name conceived by Charles and Ray Eames as a colorful deck of playing-size cards, carrying images on the cards which could be erected into myriad structures and shapes.
During ICFF, visitors to the Herman Miller booth will be encouraged to commemorate the occasion by inscribing personalized messages or creating images on blank cards. The cards, with interlocking slots, will be built into a spontaneous "House of Cards" tribute each day of the ICFF event.
There also will be a full-scale stainless steel sculpture of the Eames Lounge and Ottoman by California artist Cheryl Ekstrom, and a pair of Eames Compact Sofas upholstered in Eames-designed fabrics produced by Maharam. The booth is completed with a pair of interactive kiosks that feature Herman Miller's award-winning "Discovering Design" website.
"It's exciting to share this celebration of Charles Eames' birth with the many thousands of people who come to ICFF and who appreciate his genius for modern, problem-solving design," said Marg Mojzak, Director of Herman Miller for the Home. "It's particularly appropriate to mark the occasion with a beautiful set of new colors for the LCW, one of the most popular chair designs of all time."
The Eames LCW will be shown at ICFF in yellow, light blue and white aniline stains on birch veneer, which represents a return to the appearance and wood species used when the chair was first introduced. Later this year, the chair will be available in green, orange, purple, black and red aniline stains. The colors also will be available on the Eames molded plywood lounge chair with metal legs (LCM), as well as the molded plywood dining chair with wood legs (DCW) and the dining chair with metal legs (DCM).
"We collaborated with the Eames Office to choose a set of colors authentic to the period during which the LCW was designed," said Gregg VanderKooi, Product Manager - Classics for Herman Miller. "We looked to the colors Eames used for the Eames Storage Unit and the Eames Hang It All. And we also found inspiration in textiles designed for Herman Miller by Eames' contemporary and friend, Alexander Girard."
VanderKooi said the LCW will continue to be produced in ash, walnut and cherry veneers, and over time the stained birch version is likely to be available in even more colors.
"The LCW is the first chair where it finally all came together for Charles and Ray -- process, technology, mass-production, and unapologetic beauty all informing one clean, classic design," said Eames Demetrios, grandson of the designers and the head of the Eames Office in Southern California. "And it was only the beginning of an amazing run of equally timeless and still contemporary furniture.
"That's why if there's only one chair to invite to the party, the LCW has a pretty good case," he added, "and it's also probably why TIME called it (in 1999) the Design of the Century."
VanderKooi noted that the chair is highly favored by the architecture and design community for its simple sculptural form, and that the new colors for the LCW are stirring intense appeal.
"The architecture and design community is really enthusiastic about these new color options," he said. "We've been looking for ways to make sure that the classics remain contemporary, and this is the first significant step in what will be an ongoing journey to update and refresh the collection of classics at Herman Miller."
The aniline stain version of the LCW will be available for order entry in June at a slight upcharge, VanderKooi said.
Herman Miller helps create great places to work, heal, learn, and live by researching, designing, manufacturing, and distributing innovative interior solutions that support companies, organizations, and individuals all over the world. The company's award-winning products, complemented by furniture management and strategic consulting services, generated over $1.73 billion in revenue during fiscal 2006. Herman Miller is widely recognized both for its innovative products and business practices, having been named recipient of the prestigious National Design Award for product design from the Smithsonian Institution's Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum. In 2006, the company was again included in CRO magazine's "100 Best Corporate Citizens" and was cited by Fortune magazine as the "Most Admired" company in its industry. The company trades on the NASDAQ market under the symbol MLHR.
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