Crossed wires. No LRF my...
Crossed wires. No LRF my name is Heath and I was stating that I was speaking of the Australian Public Service. It is an in-joke here about how well they do. The Australian government goes out of its way to be a model employer, often it goes too far.
Most of the furniture for Government buidlings is pretty average, its only in the Federal departments that really decent stuff turns up, I have also heard of a lot of craftsman made pieces being purchased for embassies (much of this stuff goes "missing" I'm sure).
James Collins is right
The most thankless job here in America are our civil servants and Teachers. They are treated like servants, most under paid for keeping the goverment running smoothly... and the first to be dumped on cause of someone elses bad mistakes,
These agencies get nothing new... they get the leftovers
The Pentagon and Congress and State Dept, the US embassies get all the new stuff cause that is the way our GSA (government service agency) is programed . We always want to make a nice appearance for when our friends from Foreign countries come to vist us. mostly our dear friends from Saudi Arabia and the Shekes from the Persian Gulf. We want every thing to be real pretty and comfortable for them, while our servants or better known as civil servants are chastised for keeping the thermostat on 80 degrees during the hot summer.
Our teachers and nurses...
Our teachers and nurses don't do so well either but there are a lot of protocols in our public service to do with work place health and safety, stress managaement, maternity leave and anti-bullying etc.
You guys sound like you have it really rough! I suppose we are still (and hopefully will remain) under the remains of a left leaning state.
Why was Herman miller so popular with governemnt purchasing officers? Was it a "preferred supplier" Were they the only company big enough to gurantee supply? There must have been some concern for quality and service life at one time, would these all be JFK to Carter era purchases?
Eames knew
The most honest answer was back in the late 50's and 60's Herman Miller was the cheapest. They sold those bucket chairs to the government for 11 dollars each . Eames made up his mind to be a low cost furniture designer and with the help of his supplier Herman Miller he succeeded, back then no one gave a rats ass about good design , modern, cool, They were just cheap chairs that I grew up with on a daily routine. They were at my Sunday School
they were at my public School, They were at the Public Library, They were in every college library, student center, airport, lounge, restaurant, bus station,airport, Hospital waiting rooms and last but not least The Goverment buildings . Being 56 years old i grew up with these chairs and trust me no one ever spent one day thinking about them back then. It is fast forward 40 years that the fond memories of those chairs comes back to ones mind cause they never hurt anyone, never bothered anyone, just a nice place to put your Ass down for any were from 5 minutes to 55 minutes.
Eames set out to do what he programmed himself to do starting with the first show of low cost furniture with good friend Eero saarinen
MOMA should do another, 50...
MOMA should do another, 50 years on, or would that have been 10 yesrs ago? Theres a big gap in the market here, most stuff is either too cheap or too expensive.
Who actually owns Herman Miller, Vitra et al? Are they publicly listed, is there some obscenely wealthy reclusive Miller family ? Or some faceless corporation?
Herman miller was started in...
Herman miller was started in 1900 as the Star furniture The owners bought the company fthem Renamed after Herman Miller a rich Bavarian who's son in law was DJ Devries check out google or the Herman miller website they will give
you the full story
they are a public company with sales over a billion a year they are one of the best run companies and a constant winner of the Malcolm Baldridge award for t he best run companies. What time is in in Australia right now it is 6:33 central daylight savings time here in America
I found...something
I mentioned Grant Featherston the other day, this might be one of his, though if it is this ones been bastardised with re-upholstery and a horrible office leg stem and casters. Its got a plywood shell and is sooper comfortable. Not as dynamic as some of his other work but nice enough.
Featherston chairs here can hit between 2k-4k.
Another one for the growing pile!
71 chair on Steroids
That my friend is a bastardize sarrinen 71 chair made by Knoll and still is ,
It looks like a 71 chair on Steroids
Of course the base is different but by the time it got to Australia it made a few changes along the way, any way it is a nice chair, loose the casters and get a new base or use it as office chair.
I see the similarity but I...
I see the similarity but I prefer the way this one appears to be single piece (though its not). This one is actually really robust with nice thick shells under the upholstery (which is good flecked thick wool and will clean up nicely) . I hope its not valuable because then I'll have no qualms about keeping it!
Accurate information
Herman Miller began its life as Star Furniture in 1905. In 1910, DJ DePree is named president, and in 1923 DePree changes the company to Herman Miller, named after his father-in-law who loaned him the money to buy the majority stake. During the depression Herman Miller began to reconsider traditional furniture, and commits to producing "new" furniture styles. It was about this time that Herman Miller Clock company was handed over to DePrees brother-in-law, Howard. Howard Miller Clock company went on to produce the Nelson clocks, and now creates dreadful "old-style" grandfather clocks.
In 1945 HM hires George Nelson as creative director. Nelson recruits such new talents as Charles and Ray Eames, Isamu Noguchi, as well as the staff of the Nelson Office, including Irving Harper (designer of the HM logo). In 1970 the company went public.
The residential side of Herman Miller caters to the designs of desire - those things we all want: Eames chairs, Nelson lamps, Noguchi tables. However the corporate side of the company became the powerhouse of the company, quickly establishing itself as a leader in the way office furniture is designed and configured. Nelson is credited with designing the first cubicle-thanks George! The strategy is quite brilliant, keeping name recognition with home products and big name designers, while subsisting on the useful anonymity of corporate office spaces.
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