MOMA – 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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2016 world monuments fund / knoll modernism prize presentation.

Dec 5, 2016

despite a growing appreciation for twentieth-century architecture in recent years, great works continue to be lost to neglect, deterioration, and demolition only decades after their design and construction. in 2006, responding to growing threats to modern architecture, wmf launched its modernism at risk initiative with knoll as founding sponsor. the initiative provides a framework for addressing the issues that endanger modern landmarks and supports architectural advocacy, conservation, and public education.

this year, the jury selected molenaar & co. architecten (rotterdam), hebly theunissen architecten (delft), and landscape architect michael van gessel (amsterdam) as the recipients of the 2016 world monuments fund/knoll modernism prize for the preservation and rehabilitation of the justus van effen complex in rotterdam, the netherlands. the biennial award will be presented at the museum of modern art (moma), new york, on 5 december 2016, by mr. joshua david; barry bergdoll, meyer schapiro professor of art history and archaeology at columbia university, curator of architecture & design at moma, and chairman of the prize jury; and mr. cogan. the award presentation, a free and public event, will be followed by a presentation by the members of the prize-winning team.

business attire. seating is limited.
rsvp required: email rsvp@wmf.org by monday, 28 november 28 2016.

german product designer richard sapper. 1932-1915.

Jan 4, 2016

german industrial designer richard sapper died on new year’s eve, 2015. he was 83. his iconic design solutions make him one of the most influential industrial designers of his generation. sapper’s creative gift was a distinctive style of formal simplicity and at times humor. from simple housewares to cars and boats many of his pieces reside in museum collections worldwide including 15 designs represented at moma in new york and london’s victoria & albert and design museum. his clients included alessi, artemide, b&b italia, fiat, heuer, knoll and magis.

rearview mirror | 1956 | for mercedes 300 sl roadster, sapper’s first design gone into production

doney | | 1962 | brionvega | with marco zanuso, wins prize compasso d’oro 1962 and included in the permanent design collection at the museum of modern art in new york

tizio | 1972 | artemide | prize grand prix triennale xv 1974 | features a transformer located in the base that powers a halogen lamp through rods and press button joints, which carry electrical current without the need for cables. most recent lamp offers led illumination

bus designed to store bicycles | fiat | 1976 | competition entry study for city traffic in milan

telephone booth | 1986 | for german post office | the first telephone booth built entirely of injection-molded plastic, consisting of four identical panels plus one for the roof

argo | 1988 artemide-litech | a low-voltage spotlight track-lighting system

9091 | 1983 | alessi | features a brass melodic whistle with two pipes tuned to the notes “mi” and “ti”

la cintura di orione | 1986 | alessi | developed in consultation with renowned cuisine chefs alain chapel, raymond thuilier, pierre and michel troisgros, roger verge, gualtiero marchesi and angelo paracucchi, and under the coordination of gastronomical expert alberto gozzi

from 9 to 5 | 1986 | castelli | prize compasso d’oro 1987 | part of an extensive office furniture system. adjustable desk surface heights

aida | 1998 | magis | stacking chair

zoombike | 2000 | elettromontaggi | an aluminum 3-speed folding metro bike. the design draws on aircraft technology rather than traditional bicycle mechanics

tosca | 2007 |magis | stacking chair

aida table | 2001 | magis

according to a phaidon statement, in june, phaidon publishes richard sapper, an in depth study packed with images from sapper’s own archive and featuring specially commissioned candid photography by ramak fazel that shines light on sapper’s personal life.

MoMA & grand rapids art museum: stewart stand. Designer gifts 2013.

Dec 15, 2013

men’s billfold 3d box

[ stewart stand ] Stainless steel wallets, bags and card cases, including cufflinks in titanium. stainless steel wallets block unauthorized transmission from RFID enabled credit cards & IDs. This is a vegan wallet. Made with 85%+ post consumer recycled stainless steel. [ MOMA ] [ grand rapids art museum ]

ladies alligator continental clutch wallet

ladies clutch wallet

about diane o’donnel

german car companies thinking about the cities of the future.

Oct 27, 2013

German car companies are thinking about the cities of the future. Audi has its Urban Initiative, BMW has a multi-year city future project in cooperation with the Guggenheim, now gathered together in a show at the Guggenheim in New York. Volkswagen’s effort to look at future cities is a multi year partnership with the Museum of Modern Art and its junior branch in Queens, PS One, where the company has built the VW Dome, an inflatable hemisphere that looks like some Cold War era radar station. The efforts began in the aftermath of storm Sandy about a year ago. Inside the dome ( photo above ) on Saturday were the latest elements of the effort: presentations by architects and planners addressing an urban future where 75 per cent of the world’s population will live in cities and most will be poor. [ audi ][ bmw / guggenheim ] [ vw / moma / ps1 ]

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 ]

Top six holiday ornaments for designers.

Nov 19, 2012

click > enlarge

This year ditch the popsicle stick art and put down the plastic googly eyes and pine cones and deck your halls right. We like to trim our tree with a collection of ornaments we’e designed and made ourselves as well as few store bought pieces, which can be really hit or miss. To save you time hunting down those elusive, not horrendously ugly mass produced ornaments, we’ve made a list of our six favorite picks.

Themis Mobile Mono, Artecnica (above) Though technically not an ornament, we’d love to decorate exclusively with Clara von Zweigbergk’s cheery geometric constellations.

Pantone Christmas Ornament, Cooper-Hewitt Shop. Buck the tired red and green motif with ornaments in your favorite Pantone colors.

Astro Ornament, CB2. A flocked, retro astroid ornament makes for a very midcentury Christmas.

Felt Ball Garland, Crate & Barrel. You could easily make this yourself, and with better colors, too, but if you’re short on time chances are there’s a Crate & Barrel not too far away.

Flock Together Ornament, ABC Home. Wooden ornaments make for a nice mix of materials on typically glass-heavy trees.

Elf Mobile Ornament, MoMA Store. Time design by Bent Knudeen, 1953

about perrin drumm

Vipp the movie. From marie to moma.

Nov 13, 2012

vipp annual color 2012. copenhagen green.

[ vipp ]

Halloween at the museum.

Oct 31, 2012

This “scream” pumpkin was brought to our attention today and was amused that the pumpkin was commissioned by MoMA to promote their [ Edvard Munch: The Scream | 24 October > 29 April 2013 ] exhibition. What then began as a pumpkin search morphed into Halloween at the museum.

[ Found at the Indianpolis Museum of Art ] Halloween Carnival, 1938 | Henrik Martin Mayer

An Art Nouveau black cat found at the [ Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Collection Tour: Halloween ] Collection of the Chat Noir, 1898 | Théophile-Alexandre Steinlen

Along with pumpkins and costumes we find skulls. The image above is less famous than Van Gogh’s skull with a burning cigarette. Found at the [ Vincent Van Gogh Museum ]Skulls, 1887/88 | Vincent Van Gogh

Following an undisclosed museum visit [ theinfillclicks ] shares a post titled Halloween in the Museum

Found at [ Texas Memorial Museum ] the lion celebrates Halloween with wings. Boo!!

Is curating the new criticism?

Sep 30, 2012

is curating the new criticism? 2 october dcrit lecture with pedro gadanho. via school of visual arts [RK]