Michigan’s modernist trailblazers remembered in ‘Herman Miller’

Bill Castanier

I spent Christmas perusing “Herman Miller: A Way of Living,” a new, 614-page history of the iconic Zeeland, Michigan, furniture and design company and the designers who brought Modernism to life.

In the pictorial, the history of the company is depicted through photos and art designs decade-by-decade.

Rohde would begin a life-long relationship with Herman Miller Furniture Co., pushing the company into Modernism.

Highlights include Rohde designs of the Plexiglas chair, rolled steel chairs and the “z” clock, which debuted in the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair as a coming-out party for Herman Miller.

Another high point of the book is a look at the Ergon Chair and the remastered Aeron chair of the 2000s, followed by the Herman Miller Performance System and the Living Office of the 2000s.