george nelson – DesignApplause

herman miller has acquired knoll.

Apr 21, 2021

top> eames lounge chair / charles and ray eames / herman miller — bottom > barcelona chair / mies van der rohe / knoll

between them, herman miller and knoll have 19 brands and a presence in more than 100 countries. how they market themselves going forward is a case-study-worthy event in the making.

herman miller has acquired knoll. both iconic office furniture companies have more similarities than differences and it’s fair to say the roots to their present-day success is architecture and design. herman miller started with wood, knoll started with the bauhaus. great starts to mark the beginning of this very interesting story.

above > back to the future photo of the j miller house (no relation to herman miller) in columbus indiana. in 1953 the miller’s select architect eliel saarinen and by now herman miller’s head of textiles, alexander girard to create their home. in the foreground is knoll’s saarinen furnishings on a girard rug – below > girard’s touch in foreground and middle ground a seating area of both herman miller and knoll furnishing. today girard is listed as co-architect

herman miller was founded in 1905 and initially the company produced wood furniture, especially bedroom suites, in historic revival styles until 1930. with the coming of the great depression the company was forced to explore new products to survive and debuted a line of modern furniture at the 1933-34 century of progress exposition in chicago. in 1942, with the introduction of the “modular executive office” group (eog), the company was primed to lead the industry during the 70s open plan workplace.

in 1945 architect george nelson joined the firm as director. over the next four decades nelson influenced herman miller through both his personal designs and the designers that he recruited including; isamu noguchi, charles and ray eames, robert propst, and in textile designer alexander girard. beginning in the late 1940s, the period under nelson’s guidance saw herman miller produce some of the company’s most recognizable pieces of furniture, including the noguchi table, eames lounge chair, marshmallow sofa,

above > homage to alexander girard in a herman miller pop-up during icff 2014 – below > cosm / studio 7.5

above> living office/placemaking – below > healthcare

[ herman miller designers ]
edward barber and jay osgerby
ayse birsel
todd bracher
charles and ray eames
naoto fukasawa
alexander girard
jasper morrison
george nelson
robert propst
bill stumpf
others…

[ why herman miller magazine ]

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hans knoll was born in germany in 1914. his father was a modern furniture manufacturer, who supported the national socialist regime. perhaps because of his father’s views, or perhaps because he wanted to follow many other german modernists who had emigrated, knoll left germany in 1936 and moved to england. in 1938, he moved to new york city to found a furniture manufacturing company of his own.

in 1943, knoll was approached by florence schust, an architect who had studied under ludwig mies van der rohe and eliel saarinen. schust convinced knoll that she could help bring in business to his company even in america’s wartime economy by expanding into interior design and working with architects. hans and florence married and changed the name of the company to knoll associates. today knoll has over 40 of its designs–such as breuer’s wassily and cesca chairs and the barcelona chair by ludwig mies van der rohe–are in the permanent collection at moma.

above > classic southern california mid-century modern cool – imagining catching the view while listening to brubeck on vinyl / photos knoll

above > noguchi collection / isamu noguchi — below > platner collection / william platner

above > knoll office – below > knoll textiles

[ knoll designers ]
gae aulenti
neils diffrient
frank gehry
hans and florence knoll
isamu noguchi
jens risom
eliel saarinen
ettore sottsass
mies van der rohe
lella and massimo vignelli
others…

#hermanmiller #knoll #architecture #design #graphicdesign #interiordesign #productdesign #officedesign #workplacedesign #midcenturymodern
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a serendipitous moment via moholy-nagy chicago design archive and designer steve liska .

Oct 17, 2017

above> sculpture class in school of design / 610 fairbanks chicago / c 1940

serendipity: the faculty or phenomenon of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for…
this article intends to provoke an ongoing conversation re chicago’s design history. let’s begin with a philosophy of “one must look back to move forward” and with elements necessary to this narrative — in chronological order… bauhaus movement, lászló moholy-nagy, new bauhaus in chicago, the chicago design archive, and chicago designer steve liska. an aside, this year, iit institute of design is celebrating the 80th anniversary of its founding as the new bauhaus.

[ bauhaus movement /// weimar/dessau germany ] the historical bauhaus is the most influential educational establishment in the fields of architecture, art and design. founded 1919 in weimar germany by architect walter gropius as a school that combined crafts and the fine arts, it was famous for an approach to design which it publicized and taught. the school closed in 1933 when the nazis came to power in germany.

the bauhaus can still be felt today, essentially characterizing the image of german design abroad. architects, designers and artists associated with the bauhaus include: alvar aalto, josef albers, herbert bayer, charles and ray eames, eileen gray, johannes itten, walter jacobsen, wassily kandinsky, paul klee, le corbusier, laszlo moholy-nagy, george nelson, isamu noguchi, eero saarinen, frank lloyd wright and mies van der rohe.

above> in 1907 belgian architect henry van de velde founded the school of arts and crafts in weimar germany / 1919 he invites walter gropius to move in who starts the state bauhaus

[ lászló moholy-nagy, a new bauhaus school /// chicago usa ] also known as moholy – a hungarian experimental artist, modernist, and former faculty at the parent bauhaus in dessau comes to chicago. in 1937, at the invitation of walter paepcke, the chairman of the container corporation of america, moholy-nagy, moved to chicago to become the director of the new bauhaus. the philosophy of the school was basically unchanged from that of the original.

unfortunately, the school lost its financial backing and it closed in 1938. paepcke continued his own support and in 1939, moholy-nagy opened the school of design. in 1944, the school became the institute of design. earlier in 1939, the institute of design became a part of illinois institute of technology and became the first institution in the united states to offer a phd in design.

below> moholy-nagy on the balcony of the prellerhaus in dessau / 1927 / courtesy of the metropolitan museum of art

[ the chicago design archive and chicago designer steve liska ] liska shares his thoughts with DesignApplause upon discovering his new office was once the home of moholy’s school…

[designapplause] for the past 30 years you have managed to create wonderful office spaces for yourself. your current space may be your best. how did you arrive at this location?

[steve liska] our lease was up, was grumbling about it to a client that just developed the 600 north fairbanks helmut jahn building. he said he had a tenant (the pritzker military library) moving out of his building and i should take a look. it was slightly scary.

[DA] what is your vision of your office spaces? what is your office supposed to do?

[SL] as brand designers- communication is critical. so have always appreciated an open, flexible, collaborative office. our office supports us and gives us a neutral environment to share ideas. and has good coffee.

[DA] what was involved / how did you arrive at the finished presentation of your space?

[SL] the building is almost 100 years old, very solid and concrete loft-like. my friends at gary lee partners helped us plan for all the previous tenant demo- we removed walls, office and lots of strange old equipment. then they helped configure the space, basically made it happen.

[DA] tell us about some back stories to this building.

[SL] it was built almost a 100 years ago as a bakery (the horn and hardart automat company). it has been a us post office, housed hugh hefner’s first playboy office, the chez paree nightclub in the 50s, home to joe sedelmaier, shel silverstein, dingbat’s disco (mr. t!) and of course the school of design. lots of history, stories and a few cool ghosts.

[DA] what did you know and what did you learn about moholy?

[SL] it took a while to learn about the school and moholy-nagy from our new landlord, but once we did- we were fanatics. he actually taught in what is now our space. we have a great old photo of a sculpture class in our office from the late 40s. i have always been a fan of everyone from the bauhaus, but the more i researched moholy-nagy – the more obsessed i became. such a renaissance man.

[DA] tell us about the facade presentation.

[SL] many years ago the building’s owners hired an artist to decorate the front of the building with a huge mural of moses. not sure why moses, but it was quirky and interesting. the building was undergoing surface repair- so moses was going to be painted over. we talked to our landlord about replacing it with something related to moholy-nagy and the school of design. we eventually found a little 2 1/4 inch square photo at moma that we thought was a good evolution from moses. our landlord agreed- they ended up hiring the same artist to paint the mural based on that photo. a year later- the traveling moholy-nagy show was announced.

the best part is watching all the tourists who take photos from across the street. they don’t exactly know what the mural is all about- and that is good.

[DA] is this your final location in a perfect world?

[SL] no that would be costa rica or paris. but for now- this is pretty good.

[DA] as long as we have you, what kind of things are you working on?

[SL] a lot of real estate work, some educational institution branding, and ongoing work for a lot of existing clients. (liska.com)

[DA] i’ve been to your offices many times and we have run into each other pitching work. i don’t recall you wearing anything but a white shirt and tie. and now that you’ve aged a bit you remind me of the design community in the late 60s early 70s. very serious looking. thoughts?

[SL] i’m glad you think i am serious looking. like most things in fashion- it comes back over and over again. i count on that. i do own 2 blue shirts. seriously.

[DA] want to say something we haven’t talked about?

[SL] no, done for now. have to go pick out tomorrow’s tie.

above> liska’s office on 610 north fairbanks today / a mural of moholy over the entrance

the chicago design archive (2002-present), is a permanent and exclusive online record of chicago-related experiential, graphic and product design. the mission statement is simple – to share the best of chicago design. originally hosting only graphic design, experiential and product design work is now being collected. the cda founding board recently added a graphic design advisory and a curatorial board. it goes without saying that this dedicated team feels the burden of preserving and growing the cda, afterall, it’s only chicago’s design heritage. we asked advisor, steve liska, if we could meet at his office. entering his office building we all notice the plaque below. we didn’t know…

above> steve liska

{ bauhaus dessau ] [ bauhaus movement ] [ moholy-nagy chicago design archive ] [the charnel-house / moholy-nagy ] [ liska + associates ]

below> video trailer of ‘moholy-nagy: future present’ produced by and exhibited in chicago in 2016. other usa venues included the guggenheim, and most recently lacma

chicago architecture biennial. 20 > 26 december 2015.

Dec 19, 2015

[ 20 > 26 december calendar ] The Chicago Architecture Biennial is free and open to the general public at the Chicago Cultural Center and sites across the city. The event is supported by the City of Chicago and the Graham Foundation, with additional support from the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, and the Chicago Park District. All funding for the event is privately raised, with significant investments from BP and SC Johnson.

‘chicago: how do you see?’ by norman kelley created an exciting feature on the windows of the chicago culture centre. photography: steve hall, copyright hedrich blessing. courtesy chicago architecture biennial

marshmellow sofa | george nelson | herman miller / 1956

[ pop art design ] an exhibition organized by the vitra design museum, one of the preeminent furniture and design museums in the world, pairs iconic design objects with artworks from this celebrated era to show the cross-pollination between these creative worlds. this glimpse of art, chairs, sofas, lamps, and even architecture during the culturally ebullient 1960s and 1970s. artists such as andy warhol, roy lichtenstein, claes oldenburg and mel ramos alongside designers such as charles eames, george nelson, ettore sottsass, achille castiglioni, and robert venturi.

event> pop art design
venue> museum of contemporary | 220 east chicago avenue
dates> 19 december 2015 > 27 march 2016

For a complete list of exhibitions, public programs, supporters, media partners and program partners, visit [ Chicago Architecture Biennial ] which launched 3 October 2015, and will run through 3 January 3 2016. @chicagobiennial @GrahamFound @ChiCulturCenter

design miami 2014. preview.

Nov 17, 2014

above> peter marino: design miami/ 2014 design visionary award winner

above> zaha hadid’s site-specific installation at design.05 miami / recent photo of the moore building

ten years ago, a small fair for collectible design named design.05 miami launched concurrently with art basel miami beach. located in the moore building in the miami design district, it offered a selection of fifteen invited exhibitors, with the stated aim of bringing museum-quality galleries together with the best collectors, connoisseurs, and designers from around the world in one of the premier destinations for art and design.

fast forward 10 years. rodman primack, executive director of design miami/ stated, “the fair grew out of the need for a consolidated marketplace that would act as a platform to showcase the range and strength of what was then a fledgling market.” adding, “since then, the collectible design market has really changed in scale; it’s internationalized and diversified, and this is reflected very clearly in the fair. design miami/ has changed the way galleries engage with their audiences. i am excited to see this ecosystem bringing so many distinct viewpoints and aesthetics together.”

above> a rare photo (designapplause can never get him to pose) of muecke with a model of the pavilion concept

[ pavilion commission ]
minneapolis-based designer jonathan muecke has been commissioned to create the pavilion for the tenth anniversary of design miami/.

the design miami/ pavilion commission has become an important feature of the fair. an ephemeral extension of the fair space itself, the pavilion is at once an exhibit and a piece of functional temporary architecture. while the commission is traditionally given to an early career architect or studio, for its tenth anniversary design miami/ has selected a designer whose practice reflects the multifaceted nature of the fair itself.

alexandra cunningham cameron, creative director at design miami/ commented, “for our tenth anniversary, we wanted to pay homage to the type of young designer that design miami/ wishes to champion – one who experiments with materials, form and scale; who is as much a theorist as a maker; and who challenges us to consider how we relate to the world built around us.”

muecke studied architecture at iowa state, interning at the architectural office of herzog & de meuron in basel, switzerland before studying design at the cranbrook academy of art. muecke has evolved a design practice that resists standard divisions between design, art and architecture, instead focusing on refined forms that investigate notions of positive and negative space that relate to humanscale.

centered around a double-layered circular structure with apertures at both poles, muecke’s design miami pavilion (dmp) is designed on a human scale, rejecting monumentality in favor of lightness and variability.

above> in a not so rare photo of peter marino in leather on metal on leather. a leather vest pricked all over with metal studs, leather wrist guards with metal spikes, a leather hat with a metal skull, a strand of leather hanging from his neck which holds some metal knives, leather belt, metal belt buckle, metal knuckles with skulls, leather pants, leather boots. all the leather is always black.

[ new initiatives ]
design miami/ is launching two new forward-looking initiatives this year: the exhibition strand design curio, and the design visionary award.

conceived as contemporary ‘cabinets of curiosity’, the four independently curated design curio booths scattered throughout the fair will take the widest possible view of design practice. they will go beyond the scope of collectibledesign to embrace diverse fields from science and technology, to handcraft,and from unrealized prototypes to esoteric collections.

[ design visionary ]
the inaugural design visionary award recognizes peter marino. with this award, design miami/ recognizes marino for his achievements as an architect, for his knowledge and status as a collector of design, art and the decorative arts, and for the impact he has had as an advisor on contemporary and twentieth century design to his numerous clients.

commenting on the first edition of this award, primack stated, “this award is about recognizing the figures that have really propelled the world of design in the broader sense. peter is a great talent, and is also an amazing patron of others’ talents. his knowledge of furniture, his ability to create collections in design and his work with leading brands to help them understand the importance of bringing design voices into their world have substantially impacted the market and the language of design”.

marino founded his eponymous architecture, planning and design studio in new york in 1978 having trained with i. m. pei and george nelson. early clients included andy warhol, yves saint laurent and pierre bergé, and gianni and marella agnelli.

[ 2014 exhibitors ]
ammann gallery – cologne
antonella villanova – florence
caroline van hoek – brussels
carpenters workshop gallery – london & paris
carwan gallery – beirut
casati gallery -chicago
cristina grajales gallery – new york
demisch danant – new york
edward cella art + architecture – los angeles
erastudio & apartment-gallery – milan
galerie jacques lacoste – paris
galerie kreo – paris
galerie maria wettergren – paris
galerie pascal cuisinier – paris
galerie patrick seguin – paris
galerie vivid – rotterdam
galleria o. – rome
gallery diet – miami
gallery seomi – seoul & los angeles
hostler burrows – new york
jason jacques inc. – new york johnson trading gallery – new york
jousse entreprise – paris
laffanour – galerie downtown – paris
louisa guinness gallery – london
magen h gallery – new york
moderne gallery – philadelphia
nilufar gallery – milan
ornamentum – hudson
pierre marie giraud – brussels
priveekollektie contemporary art + design – heusden aan de maas
r & company – new york
southern guild – cape town
victor hunt design art dealer – brussels
volume gallery – chicago

[ special exhibitions ]
of the 35 galleries at design miami/ 2014 11 are among those that participated in the first year of the fair in 2005. several of these founding galleries present special exhibitions that celebrate the growth of the collectible design market over the past decade. these include a display dedicated to public commissions in france from the 1960s and 70s from demisch danant; an exhibition on the functional, durable furniture created for universities by charlotte perriand, jean prouvé and le corbusier from galerie patrick seguin; a monograph on rick kauffman’s new york art et industrie gallery and the creative crossover surrounding it from magen h gallery, and newly commissioned works debuting at the fair with cristina grajales gallery, galerie kreo, r & company and nilufar.

[ special commissions ]
design miami/ 2014 features a significant number of special commissions, including works in glass, stone and acrylic. ammann//gallery presents the sakala vase by satyendra pakhalé, his first work in blown murano glass; galerie vivid presents commissioned works by finnish-born designer janne kyttanen, which take the designer’s 3d printed aluminum sedona bench as their point of departure; max lamb creates a granite lamp for johnson trading gallery made over six days using stitch drilling, and jeweler ted noten unveils a table – his first foray into furniture – at ornamentum.

[ a bronze age ]
it may have associations with the earliest days of human craft, but bronze is very much the material of the moment at design miami/. from artist jewelry to monumental decorative works, via furniture and lighting, the cast metal is deployed across multiple formats at this year’s fair. casati gallery introduces the work of chicago-based designer steven haulenbeek with a collection of bronze mirrors, furniture, lights and objects all distinguished by the ‘chaotic texture’ produced by casting in ice. carwan gallery debuts furniture pieces combining bronze, onyx, mother of pearl, resins, fine inlaid wood and silver-plated brass by italian architect vincenzo de cotiis. carpenters workshop gallery shows a new collection of iconoclastic architectural-themed bronzes from studio job; and new furniture pieces and jewelry by claude lalanne are exhibited by louisa guinness gallery.

[ cabinets of curiosity ]
spanning the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, design curio/ presents four immersive environments of objects, textures, artifacts and ideas that truly challenge and contextualize familiar design narratives. this first edition, in celebration of the fair’s 10th anniversary, emphasizes surprising installations of scientific research alongside handcraft and creative production. these include oceanic art and design endeavor coral morphologic’s blue room, offering a coral-eye view of miami’s aquatic waterscapes; beijing’s gallery all presenting naihan li’s latest installation from her i am a monument series, recreating beijing’s cityscape to a scale of 1:100 with billowing smog rising amongst buildings reimagined as furniture pieces. koenig & clinton and joe sheftel gallery partner to present a collection of sottsass objects interacting with works by the memphis group in a jewel-box space; patrick parrish gallery invites visitors to experience the vertiginous grid-based exhibition: surfaces on which your setting and sitting will be uncertain, displaying a group of sculptural furniture objects by ro/lu with matching clothing designs by various projects.

event> design miami/ 2014 @designmiami #designmiami
dates> 3 – 7 december 2014
venue> meridian & 19th street miami beach, usa
december 3-4/ 10am-8pm
december 5/ 11am-8pm
december 6/ 12-8pm
december 7/ 12-6pm

queens museum: a legacy of two world fairs.

Apr 30, 2014

The newly renovated Queens museum offers up the legacy of two worlds fairs, in 1939-40 and 1964-5, that placed design and designers central. In 1939 it was Norman Bel Geddes, Henry Dreyfuss, Raymond Loewy and others. In 1964 it was Charles and Ray Eames, Eero Saarinen, and George Nelson. The Museums’ worlds fair collection is held in open storage—an excellent mode of display for design fans, best known to me through a Luce Foundation program that has set up open storage at the Met, the Smithsonian Art Museum and the Brooklyn Museum. [ nytimes 2001 archive ]

The [ Queens Museum ] has received many visitors this week, the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the 1964 fair. Another legacy of the fair in the museum is the great Panorama of the City of New York: a huge scale model of the city, exact to every building. The museum has been renovated. In 1939, it served as the New York state pavilion. The work of the U.S. branch of Grimshaw, the new design adds a glass façade to the original Doric fluting unrolled to become ornamental. The architects have opened the building with glass and brought in the park beyond. The central space features an elaborate light reflector system.

Inside, the design includes small, thoughtful details. Tiny windows at child height offer secret views into the New York City Panorama. A play area with toys is set up by the stairs for harried parents dealing with multiple ages and multiple distractions of their children. The base of the stairs—a big of a structural show-off–echoes the base of the Unisphere, the giant globe theme structure of the fair, seen through glass wall.

about phil patton

Why. Herman miller.

Jul 19, 2013

Committed to sharing the stories behind their designs, Herman Miller launches WHY, a digital platform for brand journalism and exclusive content. For the launch, Herman Miller collaborates with Dutch illustrator and animator Christian Borstlap in whittling down 108 years of Herman Miller design history into 108 seconds.

[ mission statement ] At Herman Miller we think, learn, and communicate through design. It is the language with which we share new ideas and address the problems people face. Before we decide what we do and how we do it, we must first ask “why?” It is in this spirit of inquiry that we approach the stories we tell on WHY. For us, design is never just about a finished product. It is a narrative that extends from the designer’s vision to the people it touches and places it transforms. With WHY, we invite you to discover why we do what we do at Herman Miller. [ why ]

Herman miller collection.

Nov 9, 2012

click > enlarge

Herman Miller launched in 2012 a new online presence for the Herman Miller Collection. The Herman Miller Collection draws on George Nelson’s vision of “a permanent collection designed to meet fully the requirements for modern living.” This comprehensive portfolio offers a breadth and depth of products to furnish complete environments in a myriad of settings, both residential and contract, elegant and casual, across a range of prices.

george nelson and “_____”

Explore the [ Herman Miller Collection ]

Mass modern auction. Wright.

Jun 30, 2011

auction 9 july 2011 10 am cst

Wright’s spring 2011 auction season comes to a close with our annual Mass Modern auction on July 9th. This NO RESERVE sale features nearly 500 lots of modern design. From Tank lounge chairs by Alvar Aalto, to Ball wall clocks by George Nelson & Associates, to a Giada decanter by Toni Zuccheri – this sale truly has something for everyone.

Each lot is featured in a specialized, full-color auction catalog [ view catalog online ]. Complete descriptions and images of lots are available online. [ View lots ] Gallery preview runs through July 5th – 8th | 10am – 5pm | with special extended preview hours accompanied by refreshments on July 7th, 5 – 8 pm | 1440 West Hubbard Street Chicago | 312 563 0020 [ wright auction ]

[ Auction 9 July 2011 10 am cst ]