Herman Miller blog: Lifework » eames aluminum group chair

Eames Spotting: Eames Aluminum Group Chair

Cerentha Harris — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 17:09:24 +0000

We continue with our Eames Spotting series with this beautiful image from Italian Elle Decor via EamesDesigns.com. And we haven’t forgotten the fact that we’re looking at design through a green filter this week. It’s a little known fact that the Eames Aluminum Group chairs are made of 61 percent recycled materials and are 88 percent recyclable at the end of their life. This chair was originally designed as an outdoor piece for the Miller House but over the years has found itself into many a chic home office. We recently took the design back to its roots and at ICFF this year we re-launched the chair as an outdoor piece.

The story in Elle Decor that featured this image was titled “Eclecttico Sofisticato”:

“I don’t believe the word eclectic applies here, except perhaps to the desk, which contrasts with other things in the room. There are many things in the room with which the Eames chair has a strong affinity. It has an affinity with the ceiling with its exposed, unpainted wood beams that are there for support, not decoration. And in the cement floor which is bare of decoration or covering. The walls also appear to be the same. Next there is the electrical fixture, which it is left exposed, the conduit for the wire isn’t buried inside the wall, it’s left where it can be seen for what it is, along with the socket. Finally there is an iron machine wheel, leaning up against the wall, shaped the way it is to address the need for which it was created. Just like the chair.”

Daniel Ostroff, editor EamesDesigns.com

The Miller House and ICFF

Cerentha Harris — Mon, 09 May 2011 10:51:17 +0000

This week is a busy one here at Lifework. I’ll be in Columbus, Indiana for a few days visiting the Miller House (pictured below) and then to New York for ICFF (where we’ve got lots of exciting new stories to share with you).

The Miller House history is intrinsically tied to Herman Miller. The home was commissioned by J. Irwin Miller, a wealthy industrialist, and his wife Xenia Simons Miller in 1953. Miller and his wife hired Eero Saarinen to design the house, Alexander Girard to work on the interiors and Dan Kiley to take care of the landscape architecture. Girard’s fabrics for Herman Miller feature heavily throughout the home. And it was Girard that got the Eameses involved. He saw the need for outdoor furniture and called on his friends Ray and Charles to design chairs for the verandah. A year later the Aluminum Group lounge chair was in production at Herman Miller. (More on that story later this week!)

Above: Saarinen and Eames met at Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. (Image via SMOW)

In 2000 the house was designated a National Historic Landmark. Dan Kiley, was still living and the house was still occupied by the Irwins. Today the house is open to the public for tours. In fact, the first tour is tomorrow and I will be on it – camera in hand. I’m very excited to share this beautiful house with you.

Learn more about the home at the Indianapolis Museum of Art site and the Miller House Symposium, Friday, May 20. Dwell magazine also has an excellent slideshow of the house here.

Eye Candy: Tucked Away

Cerentha Harris — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 10:09:09 +0000

Here’s a beautifully crafted workspace in a renovated San Francisco home carefully tucked under a flight of stairs. I came across it in Dwell and the caption reads: “Because of cost constraints, Kelli Franz and Seth Pare-Mayer were unable to alter the existing structure, so they designed built-in furniture and cabinetry to define and differentiate the spaces. They hired Chris Allen, of San Luis Obispo-based CWA Studios, to fabricate the pieces. At the base of the stairs is the study, where the residents’ teenage daughter often finishes her homework in an Eames Aluminum Side Chair from Design Within Reach.”

The Garage Conversion: Unpacking

Heather John — Thu, 27 May 2010 11:39:02 +0000

Today is the day! My new George Nelson Swag Leg Work Table will be delivered any second now. I’ve been frantically unpacking all week—stacks and stacks of books and magazines, which is a real challenge because I’m genetically predisposed to alphabetize books within their subject categories and organize magazines chronologically. In the unpacking process, I’ve uncovered some real gems like a favorite Lee Friedlander poster from the MoMA exhibit in 2005 and a 1960s Gucci portfolio of my dad’s, which he gave me when I started college. Here it sits patiently on a white leather Eames Aluminum Group chair, awaiting the arrival of the new table..