Modernism in America II

As many of us traveled to Michigan earlier this semester, I thought it would be interesting to recap modernism in American through the scope of the company Herman Miller. Herman Miller opened in West Michigan in the early 1900's. By mid-century, Herman Miller became one of the most well-known companies to produce modern furniture.

The first image above is an IBM ad that appeared in the New Yorker magazine in 1957 that featured an upholstered Eames wire chair and a Herman Miller desk. In the second image, a dining room is seen furnished with upholstered Eames wire frame chairs. There was a push during this time for affordable homes to be able to attain good design. Lastly, the third image shows an action office set up from "The Design Process at Herman Miller" at the Walker Art Center in 1975.

In the first image, you can see an Action Office System. The general concept of the Action Office has stayed the same over the years, just with changes to the materials and actual structure of the products. The second image is a current Nelson Swag Leg Desk with Eames Wire Side Chair. As with the Action Office, these two products have held true to their original concept. You can see this when compared to the IBM ad above. Lastly, this image of a dining and living room image shows a variety of different Herman Miller furniture in a current application. It includes pieces such as the Eames Molded Plastic Chairs, Walnut stool, and the Eames Sofa Compact.

Super Great Videos that You Should Watch

Herman Miller - Who We Are | http://www.hermanmiller.com/about-us/who-is-herman-miller.html
Herman Miller - Our Story | http://www.hermanmiller.com/about-us/who-is-herman-miller/our-story.html

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