Playlist: Designer Blair Prietz

At an early age, German-born designer Blair Prietz began developing a worldly perspective as his father’s work took them around the globe from the UK, to Okinawa, to California. Recently graduated from the Rochester Institute of Technology’s Industrial Design program, Blair has relocated again to Brooklyn. His worldly and creative perspective is now being put to use at Williamsburg-based design studio AREAWARE. We asked Blair to develop a worldly mix for this week’s Playlist. Take a listen.

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Michigan Modern: Design that Shaped America

Michigan’s role in the development of American mid-century Modernism is something we’re very familiar with at Herman Miller (our headquarters is in Zeeland, MI, after all). And this weekend, an exhibit at the Cranbrook Academy of Art near Detroit opened to celebrate our state’s outstanding contributions to design and the people who made it happen. Read more

Six Ways to Celebrate Charles Eames

It’s been an extraordinary year for a few of the designs Charles Eames created with his wife Ray. In the last year, we have seen the debut of the Molded Plastic Side Chair re-imagined in wood. Just recently, it was announced that Eames Molded Plastic Chairs will be produced in environmentally sustainable fiberglass with a spectrum of rich, vintage colors. Today would have been Charles’ 106th birthday — so here are six great ways to celebrate him.

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Top Ten: Best of the Web This Week

Take a look at what we’ve been reading this week.

1. News on Art Daily that the Henry Ford Museum just acquired the Eames-designed IBM pavilion kiosk from the 1964 New York World’s Fair.

2. Wired’s article on the launch of Herman Miller’s Public Office Landscape furniture system by Fuseproject.

3. “Every room in this house is connected and ready to absorb the creativity of its residents.” (Read about it at ArchDaily.)

4. Stunning views of the mountains in Switzerland and Austria at the k_m architektur-designed Weinfelden House, spotted by Design Milk.

5. Photos of the 1941 MoMA exhibit that “introduced the world to Eames” at Gothamist.

6. The Detroit News’s look at the “Michigan Modern: Design that Shaped America” exhibit opening tomorrow at the Cranbrook Art Museum in Bloomfield Hills, MI.

7. The Hollywood Hills home — now for sale — of Eames Office designer Deborah Sussman and architect Paul Prejza, spotted by Curbed LA.

8. Plastolux’s review of these simple and stunning interiors created by London-based Found Associates.

9. The Royal Institute of British Architects’ announcement of the winners of this year’s RIBA Awards, via Dezeen.

10. “6 Ways to Create a Culture of Innovation” at Co.Design.

Featured in photo: AGL Table by Leon Ransmeier and Eames Molded Fiberglass Chairs, both featured in the Herman Miller showroom at NeoCon 2013

Six Ways to Work Everywhere

Nowadays our workspaces know no boundaries. Whether you’re in the corporate headquarters, working from home, or part of a small business, easygoing and mobile solutions are essential. With on-the-move business and efficiency in mind, we offer these six ideas for working everywhere.

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The $5 Eames Chair

We’ve been intrigued by a story recently making the rounds of a Littleton, Colorado, couple who discovered the chair they purchased a year ago at a yard sale was actually an original Eames Molded Plywood Lounge Chair from 1946. Sarah Keepers and James Hull paid $5 for the design. They had been keeping the chair in their garage and were about to donate it to charity when Sarah happened to turn it over and notice its Herman Miller label. After confirming its origins with a local Herman Miller Workplace Resources office, they learned that similar first-edition chairs by Charles and Ray Eames have fetched anywhere from $14,000 to $150,000.

It’s certainly a tale of good luck, a good deal, and good design. And just for the record, the video interview of the couple calls Herman Miller’s founder “J.D. Du Pree” (it’s D.J. De Pree, but we won’t hold it against anyone) and refers to Charles Eames as “Chuck,” but it’s still a remarkable story that we think would have made them both smile. Check it out here.

A Warm (and Colorful) Welcome at NeoCon

The doors of Chicago’s Merchandise Mart opened up this morning for guests attending the first day of NeoCon 2013 — and Herman Miller was right there to welcome them. The South Lobby entrance to the annual commercial interior design conference has currently been transformed into the Herman Miller Lounge, a place for people to spend a few moments relaxing, connecting with clients and colleagues, or simply recharging their gadgets.

The space is there to help make managing the conference easier. But it also happens to showcase — in quite a vivid way — some of our newest offerings and updated designs. Notably, anchoring the plaza-like setting is a long Layout Studio Table surrounded by Eames Aluminum Group Management Chairs upholstered in vibrant Alexander Girard Hopsak material. Along the sides, Eames Sofa Compact designs in classic Maharam Pressed Plaid join Nelson Pedestal Tables and new Eames Molded Fiberglass Shell Rockers to add comfort, utility, and an eye-catching punch of color.

It’s just a taste of the people-focused design solutions we’re presenting in our main showrooms during this year’s exhibition. If you’re at the show, please stop by Suites 318, 321, and 330 to experience our breakthrough “Living Office” concept. Not at NeoCon? Get a sneak peak at our spaces — which were just awarded “Large Showroom Winner” and “Best of Competition” — at hermanmiller.com/neocon-2013.

Top Ten: Best of the Web This Week

Here’s what caught our eye this week.

1. “An Idea Whose Time Has Come,” Metropolis Magazine’s in-depth look at Herman Miller’s new “Living Office” vision.

2. The renovation of this charming 1920s bungalow in Venice, California, by Frank Clementi and Julie Smith-Clementi (via California Home + Design).

3. Apartment Therapy’s announcement of the winners of its Small Cool Contest 2013. Congrats!

4. The annual Pavilion structure from London’s Serpentine Gallery, this year designed by Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto, covered at It’s Nice That.

5. Core 77′s new series on understanding wood material.

6. The Refuge du Goûter, an eco-friendly “high-altitude hotel,” now the highest building in France (via Inhabitat).

7. A video from Dezeen featuring designer Stephen Burks explaining how the High Line elevated park in New York City is helping to transform the surrounding area.

8. The interior of this clean-lined loft space in London designed by Craft Design via Contemporist.

9. News of “Essential Eames,” a new exhibition at Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands’ ArtScience Museum, at TODAYonline.

10. Herman Miller is now on Instagram. Be sure to follow us here.

Featured in photo: Nelson Platform Bench by George Nelson, now 15% off in the Herman Miller Summer Sale. Details here.

Save 15% During Our Summer Sale

Our Summer Sale lasts until June 10. Find out how to get 15% off everything you need to create a space that suits and supports the ways you live and work. Click here.

Touring the Detroit Office of Midcoast

Detroit-based creative studio Midcoast is best known for the Computer Generated imagery (CGI) and commercial photography it produces for clientele like Harley-Davidson, Sea Ray, HGTV, Chrysler, Dodge, and Jeep. After this office tour, it might also be known for the pops of color in its newly renovated interior provided by Bill Stumpf and Jeff Weber’s Embody Chair. Take a look. Read more