Design is so busy solving problems that we sometimes forget that it’s OK to have fun with it. That certainly isn’t the case with Spun, a design whose sole purpose seems to be bringing smiles to the faces of everyone that sits in it.
Designed by Heatherwick Studio, Spun it looks more like a children’s top than a chair when upright. But lay it on it’s side and Spun becomes a comfortable chair that lets the sitter rock side to side—and best of all—spin around, and around, and around.
Check out the video we made the day Spun arrived at Herman Miller. Enjoy the smiles as people experience it for the first time.
The Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. Photo: Eliel Saarinen
Sunny California is often considered the center of modern design and architecture, but could the heart of mid-century modernity be found along the shores of Michigan?
Why Michigan? Many reasons, and certainly it was West Michigan’s furniture industry, the opportunity to study at the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, exhibits hosted by the Detroit Institute of Art in the heart of the Motor City, and the numerous patrons who supported a new vision for the world.
To learn more, visit Michigan Modern, a project working to raise awareness of the state’s design legacy and share examples of the state’s ongoing leadership in modern design.
“In the natural world, complexity thrives with reason,” says Sam Hecht of Industrial Facility. “Beauty is simply a result of constant growth.”
When designing the Branca chair for Mattiazzi, Hecht and his partner Kim Colin turned to nature. “In particular, the branches of a tree provided the critical analogy for the project.” Like a tree, the chair has elements that turn, twist, meet, and branch. “The different points may seem random but are all intentional.”
Carved from a single piece of wood, Branca pushes the notion of robotic craftsman. Using a combination of sophisticated CNC machining and traditional hand-shaping and finishing techniques, the simple design belies the complexity of its production.
The result is a chair that is comfortable to the eye and the body, light enough to carry and easy to stack.
Charles Eames—the architect—and Ray Eames—the painter—are the subjects of a new documentary film dedicated to exploring the lives of this husband–and–wife team who profoundly affected the world of design.
Together, Charles and Ray created furniture, multi–media exhibits, graphics, games, films, and toys. They worked with such prominent companies as IBM, Westinghouse, and Herman Miller to define significant movements in American life—from modernism, to the rise of the computer age.
Check out the trailer for Eames: Architect and Painter below, and click here to find out when the film is playing near you.
The Butaro Hospital in Rwanda, designed and built by MASS Design Group in partnership with Partners in Health.
People around the world have truly become neighbors in a global hometown, and we at Herman Miller support our neighbors wherever they are–locally, globally, and everywhere in between.
It is in this spirit that Herman Miller Healthcare is honored to partner with MASS Design Group. Started by students from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design, MASS has, in a very short time, become a leading organization for pushing the boundaries of design and architecture for the purpose of improving the healthcare and lives of people in the world’s poorest communities.
In places like Rwanda, Haiti and Liberia, MASS applies a human-centered approach to design to create innovative, inexpensive, and effective healthcare facilities. The impact of their work has been recognized at home in the U.S, and MASS is now working with healthcare leaders such as Cincinnati Children’s Hospital on their Cerebral Palsy Clinic.
This partnership is long-term, and we are excited about working with MASS to build a better world around you.
Where do you begin celebrating 45 years of California art and design? With 60 museums and 70 galleries, to be exact. Pacific Standard Time, believed to be the largest museum collaboration ever, will be showcasing works by California-based artists and designers from now until January.
From the works of Charles and Ray Eames in the 1940’s to the hardcore punk scene of the 1980’s, California’s artistic influence is on display. Check it out and see why LA can go toe-to-toe with NYC when it come comes to art.
Check out Lifeworks for peek at a few Eames and Herman Miller related exhibits.
Designer Naoto Fukasawa believes that designers, “don’t think to design the ‘ordinary.’” Normal is too boring. His approach to design is to not overthink an idea, because when we do, “our actions become awkward.”
The Déjà-vu family designed for Magis proves Fukasawa’s contention that “normal” should be anything but boring. Composed of a chair, stool, and table, Déjà-vu feels familiar. A trait that helped earn the Déjá-vu chair an Interior Innovation Award in 2007, and a 2008 nomination for the Designpreis der Bundesrepublik in Germany.
Based in Japan, Fukasawa and his studio design for companies around the global, including Artemide, Boffi, MUJI, and his own electronics brand ±0. He also teaches or lectures at several prestigious Japanese universities.
This guy wasn’t pondering this question back in 1930. (It wasn’t long after that we were.) Today, more people like him are not only thinking about being green, they’re making their living doing green work.
McGraw-Hill Construction says 35 percent of architects, engineers, and contractors report having green jobs today. The study defined “green jobs” as those that involve over 50 percent of one’s work being done on green projects or designing and installing green systems.
That 35 percent represents 661,000 jobs, or about one-third of the industry workforce. And there’s better news. The share of green workers is expected to increase to 45 percent of all design and construction jobs by 2014.
We’re delighted to see these trends. As merchants of virtue, we are committed to being green, even when it isn’t convenient, because in the end we know it’s as good for business as it is for the earth.
The paint has dried and the doors have opened on a new Herman Miller Healthcare Customer Experience Center that engages and inspires.
To engage visitors, we designed plenty of hands-on experiences. We encourage customers to interact with and experiment with products. Visitors can try the Oasis overbed table while lying in bed. They can rearrange the modular tiles of the Compass System and see first-hand the Herman Miller Performance System.
Inspiration comes in the form of settings—from waiting rooms, to patient rooms, as well as laboratories. Visitors see thoughtful, realistic solutions to their problems, as well as many that really make them think.
Engaging and inspiring, the aim of our Customer Experience Center is to help people realize the power of space.
Our 1953 promise to “be a good steward of the environment” put Herman Miller on a path toward helping Yellowstone Park. As the first national park, Yellowstone is often referred to as “America’s best idea.” A national treasure, it faces the complex challenge of balancing environmental preservation with public enjoyment.
Addressing this, Yellowstone Park and the Yellowstone Park Foundation recently gathered fellow leaders in environmental advocacy—including Toyota, the University of Michigan, and National Park Service—to beginning thinking how to balance its objectives.
We were honored to join the discussion and help facilitate a session that began mapping a sustainable future in which Yellowstone remains as beautiful as it is today.
