Herman Miller blog: Discover » MoMA

Century of the Child: Growing Up by Design

David Foster — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 14:45:10 +0000

From a Bauhaus dollhouse to Pee-wee’s Playhouse to Slinky and the Sims, design for children is the topic of a new MoMA exhibit entitled, “Century of the Child.” Among the postwar contributors are designers Charles and Ray Eames.

It should come as no surprise that a couple like Charles and Ray, who showed such child-like exuberance themselves, would have designed for children. Animal masks, kites, “The Toy” building kit, a “Do-Nothing Machine,” and the House of Cards are all playful examples. On view at MoMA are the Hang-It-All and a child’s chair—one of the Eameses’ first successful molded plywood furniture designs.

“Century of the Child” is open now through November 5, 2012.

Plywood: Material, Process, Form

David Foster — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 15:24:04 +0000

An early prototype of the Eames lounge developed in 1946.

In 1945, Charles and Ray Eames introduced the world to molded plywood as a material for furniture. Using a process perfected in the living room of their Westwood apartment, the Eames created numerous prototypes. With each, they learned the characteristics and limitations of molded plywood, eventually landing on the forms of their iconic molded plywood chairs.

This February, see the Eameses’ hard work on display along with plywood designs by Aalto, Jacobsen, Yanagi, and others at Plywood: Material, Process, Form at the Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Hurry, the exhibition closes February 27, 2012.

Steve Frykholm: 2010 AIGA Medalist

Marcia Davis — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 12:00:53 +0000

Last week, Herman Miller’s own creative director, Steve Frykholm, was named one of three recipients of the 2010 AIGA Medal–the highest honor of the graphic design profession. It’s awarded to individuals in recognition of their exceptional achievements, services, or other contributions to the field of design and visual communication. Along with John Maeda and Jennifer Morla, Steve will be presented with the award at the AIGA Design Legends Gala in 2011.

AIGA executive director Richard Grefé said, “AIGA is proud to recognize the 2010 Medalists for their exceptional contributions to the field of design. Each has contributed to the way design can intrigue the spirit, engage curiosity, enhance business, explore creative use of visual technique, and communicate value that is respected by business, society and our popular culture.”

Steve has directed Herman Miller’s graphic identity for 40 years. His iconic work has been widely published and exhibited at institutions including the Museum of Modern Art, the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, and the Danish Museum of Decorative Art.

As Cheryl Heller, chair of the AIGA awards committee, noted, “Each Medalist this year is completely unique, yet all three are stellar examples of how to be a true leader and live a life in design.”

Unique? That’s what we love about Steve. Stellar? Definitely. At Herman Miller, Steve Frykholm is as iconic as his picnic posters. We’re honored to have him here.

MoMA: Champion of Modern Design and Designers

Marcia Davis — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 10:09:27 +0000

In the late 1920s, three grand and progressive New York ladies, Miss Lillie P. Bliss, Mrs. Cornelius J. Sullivan, and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Jr., decided the world needed a museum devoted to modern art. They hired Alfred Hamilton Barr, Jr., as director, and in 1929 — an inauspicious year — the Museum of Modern Art opened to the public.

Until he retired in 1967 and even after, Barr was the guiding spirit of the museum. Two of his loves — the culture of Weimar and the Bauhaus — lay behind the many exhibits at MoMA during the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s dealing with modern architecture and design.

Phillip Johnson, Edgar Kaufmann, Jr., and Eliot Noyes among many others curated exhibits. MoMA exhibited the furniture of Eames, Nelson, and Aalto. An exhibit in 1932 introduced the world to the International Style of architecture; one in 1938 popularized the Bauhaus; another in 1940 displayed “modern” furniture for the first time.

The connections between MoMA and Herman Miller have grown over the years. Many of our products sit in MoMA’s permanent collections.

On exhibit now
What Was Good Design? MoMA’s Message 1944–56, May 6, 2009–November 30, 2009
This installation presents selections from MoMA’s design collection that illuminate the primary values of Good Design—a concept that took shape in the 1930s and emerged with new relevance in the decades following World War II—as promoted (and disputed) by museums, design councils, and department stores.

Upcoming
Bauhaus 1919–1933: Workshops for Modernity, November 8, 2009–January 25, 2010
With a wide diversity of objects, including examples of industrial design, furniture, graphics, film, photography, book design, weaving, theater, painting, and sculpture, the exhibition will highlight the Bauhaus school’s revolutionary ideas of artistic education and production, as well as its enduring influence.

By Marcia Davis