Herman Miller unveils its New York flagship full of midcentury silhouettes

For more than 80 years, Michigan-based manufacturer Herman Miller has been one of, if not the most prominent purveyors of modernist design. Thanks to its collaborations with the biggest designers of the time - Ray and Charles Eames, Isamu Noguchi, Alexander Girard, and the like - the company’s name has become all but synonymous with midcentury modern furniture, which has grown ever more popular since its 1950s and ’60s heyday.
Despite that, there has never been a brick-and-mortar Herman Miller store in the United States, where Eames obsessives could go to see those iconic recliners or the couple’s space-age accessories in person. The company operates a downright massive factory in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and its products are available online and in showrooms, but a true flagship store hasn’t been part of the company’s plan - until now.Last week, Herman Miller opened in New York City its first North American retail hub in a historic Park Avenue building (251 Park Avenue South) that also houses its offices, along with Design Within Reach (which the company acquired in 2014). The bi-level space is bright, open, and inviting, with different spaces dedicated to the different functions of everyday life: sleeping, dining, working, and so on. The idea, according to Linda Choong, Herman Miller’s vice president of consumer business, is to expand the brand’s fanbase beyond its core audience.

Read all here. Thanks ny.curbed.com for sharing text and photos. 

Vitra covers Eames Lounge Chair in fabric to celebrate 60th anniversary

Swiss furniture brand Vitra is launching a limited-edition version of Charles and Ray Eames' Lounge Chair to commemorate its 60 years in production.
Vitra's update of the chair is upholstered in black twill fabric from the company's materials library instead of the traditional black leather.
The Lounge Chair Twill and matching Ottoman will be available for a limited period of three months between November 2016 and January 2017.
The company hopes the black fabric – which is complemented by warm reddish tones of palisander wood in the frame – creates a "cosy softness and inviting warmth".
While the armchair has been released with a few variations in the past, Vitra has always produced it exclusively in leather.
The newly upholstered models will also come with a corresponding label acknowledging the anniversary, along with a celebratory "60 years in Production" certificate.

Designed in 1956, the chair was originally conceived by Charles and Ray as a simple, practical and comfortable piece of furniture.

Thanks for sharing dezeen.com

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The top becomes an object of refined industrial production

Charles Eames would become fascinated: the top becomes an object of refined industrial production. This is the story of ForeverSpin: a Canadian independent manufacturer founded in February 2014 by Ruben Gonzalez, Viktor Grabovskyy, and Cristobal Uribe, headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. It manufactures and sells tops that are CNC-machined to a metal finish. They have funded the tops through a series of three successful Kickstartercampaigns, along with additional funding through Indiegogo. As of June 2016, they have received over $1.5 million in sales and have sold their tops to over 70 countries.
The ForeverSpin top is the only and exclusive toy manufactured by the company. It is available in 15 different finishes, and can be ordered in a bundled collection.
The tops are CNC-machined by the company at its headquarters. It goes through inspection and, if passed, is branded with a serial number and then shipped to customers. Overall, from sideways, it is 1.125 in wide.
Unlike other tops, it can spin upside-down from its spindle as well.

More info at: foreverspin.com

News: Grey Malin shoots iconic pieces by Eameses in French Polynesia

Photographer Gray Malin is reconsidering the way we traditionally experience design objects through his latest series ‘art of living’. in the pristine turquoise waters of french polynesia, malin has conceptualized an iconic selection of mid-century modern furniture set atop a reflective mirrored platform — refracting an abstract tableau of both the pieces, and the surrounding landscape.
Malin has situated archetypal mid-century modern designs by charles and ray eames atop a floating 15 foot square mirrored platform handcrafted with the help of local engineers. emphasizing the form of the furniture, ‘art of living‘ was photographed from a vantage point where the colossal mount otemanu presents a symmetrical and stunning backdrop. by situating stylized interior design elements in an unexpected outdoor setting, the series places natural and manmade beauty side-by-side, asking viewers to interpret the art of design in a new way.

Courtesy for sharing: www.designboom.com