The booth which hosted thousands of visitors over five days, saw the global launch of the company's SAYL family of seating, designed in collaboration with Yves Béhar.

The excitement around SAYL is continuing here in Asia as we begin to launch the product in each of the key cities.In this latest edition of Reach, we wanted to share with you the enlightening design philosophy and product evolution behind what we are confident will be the biggest selling product over the next few years.

The new Herman Miller Shanghai Showroom was opened to the public in November. We were delighted to be awarded our LEED gold certificate and reveal the plaque for over 300 guests. Set on the terrace, a spectacular "chair tree" constructed with red and white Eames shell chair captured everyone's imagination.

I was personally impressed with the response from the A & D community in China for the new Arras bench. It was the longest Arras bench we have ever made, over seven meters long and was featured in the signature "bumble bee" look ; graphite and yellow- it's not the usual colours you will find in most offices.

It was important that I look my best for this wonderful event so as you can see (in the picture below) I asked for some help from our local barber.

Hope you decide to buy one of the limited edition 'Pink' Eames Shell for your loved ones. I am certainly getting one for mine!

Jeremy Hocking,
Vice President, Herman Miller Asia Pacific

“I would like to wish all our readers an early Merry Christmas and Prosperous
New Year."

A glimpse into the design of new Herman Miller SAYL Chair
- by Yves Béhar

I believe that one of design’s most important promises is to create attainability. This has been a central pursuit of my studio fuse project: from laptops designed for kids in developing world classrooms (OLPC) to energy saving lighting and EV charging stations.

So we approached this project with the following questions: How do we create a task chair that is attainable? And can we make a comfortable, supportive, healthy, and yes, beautiful task chair, at a fundamentally lower price than anything Herman Miller, the leader and innovator in the field, has yet accomplished?

Attainability can only be reached if every molecule in the product is working harder. Fewer parts and less material ultimately mean less cost…and less carbon footprint. We call this principle Eco-Dematerialization.

Early inspiration came from observing the way suspension bridges carry tremendous loads. The Golden Gate Bridge is near my home in San Francisco, and its structural towers and cable system led to some ideas: what if we use a tower for vertical support, cables for back tension and comfort, and a lower span as base?

Iterating on the curvature of the lower Arc Span allowed us to fine-tune the shape of the back of the chair to mirror spine curvature. Ultimately, between the fuseproject shop and Herman Miller’s, we produced 70+ prototypes, constantly building, testing, breaking, and starting all-over again.

The result is a breakthrough. We can eliminate the use of a hard material to frame the SAYL back, allowing greater movement and the first frameless suspension back. No more hard edges!

We are also able to change the performance of the SAYL back to reflect ergonomic support needs: more supportive and responsive areas through thicker injected sections in the sacral, lumbar and spine areas, and softer areas in the upper back and edges.

We named this approach 3-D Intelligent surfaces, and refined the feel of the back through 100 different patterns, material thickness and tension strength experiments. The frameless back allowed us to design the parts to more easily twist and move with the user, encouraging movement and a more dynamic response from the chair.

We also pursued the detailing of every part and every surface with two goals in mind: removing as much material as possible, and shaping every part to be beautiful, expressive and tactile. Structural parts are simultaneously sculpted and hollowed-out, such as the Y-Tower and Arc-Span, which results in an aesthetic that reveals structure. Touch-points like the back tension knob and height adjustment paddle have the bare-minimum amount of materials with a tactility that informs the user of the part’s function.

Too often, task chairs look assembled from a kit of parts, and often they are. There is a dance between SAYL’s functional engineering work and its cosmetic shaping, and there is a relentless desire to have parts run fluidly into each other. For example, I was particularly interested in making the arms look as if they were stretched and growing seamlessly out of their height adjustment posts. There is also the idea of separate parts drawn as if conceived as one: The SAYL’s frameless back is shaped to both express the tension distribution from the top attachments, and visually follow the form and exposed ribbing of the Y-Tower. As a result, the two parts are visually layered as if one.

In my opinion, Herman Miller does not sell a style, but rather a set of inventions that are identifiable as the most radical in the industry. But what makes the chair relevant now?

It was important to reflect the workplace now and communicate the new horizontal nature of 21st century corporate structures. SAYL gives a sense of visual lightness and transparency rather than a status announcing design, and an ergonomic feel that is biomorphic.

At the same time SAYL has a sense of humility and attempts to achieve high-tactility design rather than visual statement. The chair reflects design-intent when viewed and touched by the sitter in close proximity, but from a far it almost disappears. The workplace is not about chairs and what they say about the people who sit on them: it’s about the humans and their work. To that effect, SAYL appears smaller in scale, and its dematerialization makes it more transparent in the environment.

The final chapter has been to design a whole collection of work chairs, with side chairs benefiting from the material innovations and the 3-D Intelligence of SAYL, and to craft a forward timelessness that puts the details at the center of the design.

The whole SAYL design adventure was really a process of invention, iteration, constant failure and experimentation. It did not take place on the computer, but in the workshop and on the drawing board, with real prototypes leading to failures and successes. What Don Goeman at Herman Miller describes as “growing” a chair rather than “building” one is the idea the fuseproject team led by Bret Recor, Qin Li and Naoya Edahiro took to heart for 3 years, and through a deep collaboration with a dozen Herman Miller engineers under John Aldrich, and the watchful eye of Jack Schreur, we really “grew” the SAYL line of work chairs.

Every design and invention should benefit the company that takes the risks to invest in a new innovation, but every product should also benefit the world by demonstrating a more sustainable and socially responsible way to do business. In addition to being dematerialized, lighter, and by default having a smaller carbon footprint, the SAYL is also manufactured on 3 continents to reduce shipping environmental costs, packaged in a half size box, Cradle to Cradle certified, backed by a 12 year warranty, and receives all the service a conscientious enterprise provides.

There is an amusing parallel between the SAYL’s physical lack of frame around its suspension back, and my belief that we humans are increasingly benefitting from “unframed” expressions of our potential, taking on bigger challenges and to going beyond work or social expectations. This led me to give the chair the nickname of “unframed” early on in the process. The idea continued to grow in my mind, and eventually became bigger than the chair itself. “Life unframed” now describes all workplaces and life-places as having that freedom and potential.

So somewhere along the way, SAYL started to feel just like the beginning of a bigger idea, a “life unframed” that is accessible to more of us and will continue to evolve…

"It’s human nature to seek life unframed"

Yves Béhar

In our relationship segment, we explore the themes and trends that will shape the way we work in the future.

Interview with Derek Fung, Sustainability Advisor at M Moser Associates:
- by Amy Li

How relevant are Green building rating systems like LEED in China?

LEED, as a green building rating system, is most popular in the USA and Canada.

But perhaps surprising to some, LEED’s third biggest market is China. We speak with Derek Fung, Sustainability Advisor at M Moser Associates, about the experience of designing LEED commercial interiors in China.

 1. As LEED was designed for US-based projects, are there major obstacles in applying its standards in China?

LEED itself was designed to be a robust system capable of being applied to many different project contexts. This has conveniently helped Chinese projects to pursue LEED certification, even though many of LEED’s associated standards such as ASHRAE and SCAQMD are not common in China.

However, once a project team gets to know these standards, they find the metrics evaluated similar to Chinese standards.

Few of the available LEED credits are impossibly expensive if applied to a China project. But most are doable with the right mix of ingenuity and perseverance.

The difficulty comes in balancing the technical requirements of the LEED credits with slightly different Chinese standards and customs. An example I like to use is recycling in China. How do you explain to US-based reviewers the amazing efficiency of individual urban waste pickers that completely clear away virtually all waste on a construction site?

Anyone who lives in Shanghai has seen the bicycle carts industriously ferrying ridiculously tall stacks of cardboard, plastics and scrap metals from sites to recycling points.

The market leaders of most manufacturing industries are also leaders in their sustainability initiatives. In terms of LEED, these companies are judged on how their products score in terms of VOC levels and other metrics of sustainability. Companies like Herman Miller have a great reputation backed up by thorough product data, proving their commitment to sustainability.

2. How do you approach the integration of LEED into a project?

Working on a LEED project has been a learning curve, not because of the foreign requirements, but because it requires a new process of teamwork which incorporates many of the LEED design issues into the project.

Anyone can read a book and follow the instructions, but the LEED guide only suggests example methods that lead to a quantifiable result. These examples may not be totally relevant to your project, especially in our region.

How the result is achieved is entirely up to the project team. The generally accepted best practice is to hold a design character with all project stakeholders during the planning stage of the project, and discuss everyone’s objectives, including LEED requirements.

We’ve learned that LEED integration is most successful and less of a headache for everyone when LEED certification is acknowledged as a mandatory project objective on day one of the project.

3. What are your thoughts on the sustainability of this trend?

I think the numbers speak for themselves.

The private and especially the public sector in China have doubled down on this industry and have funnelled a lot of money into sustainability.

It’s become a catalyst for a self-sustaining trend. Very soon it will become part of best practices for a lot of industries, including interior design. No one wants to be left behind, especially the private sector, members of which are concerned about reputation risk.

LEED just happens to be one of the most accepted methods of quantifying “green” right now.

At the end of the day, being “green” is a concept about changing our “business as usual” mindsets and practices so that we as a species can reduce our harmful impact on the environment. That is something everyone can subscribe to.

“LEED’s third biggest market is China”

Derek Fung

Atul speaks about his view points on design, workplace environment, trends etc.

Interview with Atul Kukreja, Director of Adrianse Design, India
- by Tulika Anand

1. What are your thoughts on workspace design and how is that changing?

Corporate workplace has evolved over time and has much to do with the way people and organizations work these days, given the choices that people have today with respect to how, where and when they perform their work tasks.

This calls for creating a variety of work settings within the offices that we design today that need to be flexible, adaptable and multifunctional.

Many clients we work with are rolling out alternate workplace solutions as part of their real estate strategy which not only leads to increased efficiencies and maximizing employee productivity but also leads to a reduced real estate costs.

New technology has opened a door of opportunities for companies and employees willing to explore non-traditional work arrangements. Another trend of course is the Green Building movement that has gathered momentum and as a result of which buildings and interiors are becoming more environmentally sensitive and efficient.

2. What is your approach to introduce colours in the workspace?

Colour is often used to reflect a company’s brand and identity and also to promote the right energy. We often use a neutral foundation in the offices we design and then use colour sparingly as accents and highlights.

More importantly we always look for interesting ways of colour usage for eg. lighting effects, translucent coloured glass, reflections etc. We often get requests from clients to make their offices vibrant for their young workforce and we are extremely careful on how we use it. It’s a challenge finding the proper balance, no colour will leave the offices drab, too much colour will have paint pouring out of your ears.


3. What part of designing a workspace you like most and what is most challenging?

Designing is never challenging, its fun and that’s what keeps us going and gives us satisfaction.

Managing the design process is where it gets challenging. Understanding and meeting client expectations, coordinating with multiple agencies, meeting project timelines and budgets etc is what takes much of our time.

4. Have you noticed any change in design expectation of your clients with topics like LEED and environment advocacy catching on?

Yes, certainly. Today, the benefits from design and construction of green buildings are known to all and many clients are aspiring to achieve “green building rating” with an aim to reduce energy consumption, create healthy environment and restrict negative impact on nature. It is a collective responsibility for all stakeholders of the construction industry including architects, developers, product manufacturers etc and thinking, designing and building sustainably should be a natural part of what we all do.

 5. And do you think this is going to stay or it will change with time as other design trends?

This is definitely going to stay, the change we will see with time is that the green movement will get only stronger as sustainability will be a ticket to growth in the future global economy.

6. From your experience if you can share one piece of advice for those looking at designing or building a new place, what will it be?

To all those young creative designers, my one piece of advice to them is that they must “listen” to the client to understand his needs and aspirations.

The client will always give the designer more room and freedom to design once he understands that someone is really listening. And to those on the other side, please leave it to the professionals to work their magic.

“Colour is often used to reflect a company’s brand and identity and also to promote the right energy.”

Atul Kukreja

We speak to Cedric Jaccard, Executive Design Director for Wilson and Associates.

- by Samantha Giam

1. Wilson Associate has presence in most major cities and clients all over the world. Can you share with us what are the challenges of managing that?

Today - communication with advance technology is no longer a challenge, but in our creative line of work, our development process and working style is best achieved with immediate interaction rather than over a conference or video call.

We prefer to gather in one place to share ideas, review layouts and design to ensure the final product and execution is the best for our client.

2. How has the hospitality evolved over the years – in relation to customer needs and how does design addresses those changing needs?

Hotel design evolves with the needs of the end user. Changes are driven more by the consumer than the hotel operators.

Travelling is now part and parcel of our lifestyle – when it used to be a few big trips per year, with the affordability of air travel, mobile working and improvements in quality of life – People travel a few times a month whether it is for the holidays, for the weekend or business trip.

Certainly with that in mind, the product expectation is now different. Hotels today are about bringing people together. Food and drinks for example, is a big element that brings people together. New concept will use F&B as converging point to animate spaces.

3. What is your latest project?

We’ve executed the Krisflyer lounge, at Singapore Changi Terminal 3 which is a very prestigious project.

The challenge was to address the different type of travelers who use the lounge. A portion of the guests come for a quick ten minute visit for a sandwich, a drink, then go off to catch their flights. Certain guests are using the lounge for a long break like several hours as they are in transit between flights. Assessing these manifold requirements, we come to an end product that works for a diverse group of travelers.

4. Which is your most challenging project?

High rise mix use towers, present new demands for design.

The constraint of small and limited floor space means that we need to spread venues more vertically and ensure each area is still sufficiently spacious and catered for.

5. You have a big presence in China - is designing for the Chinese market any different than other countries?

No differences, client expectations in China has grown higher over the years. They have acquired a sense of what is ‘good design’. Though I must say occasionally communicating and truly understanding the client can still be a trial.

6. What are the trends in colour?

Colour is not a method of differentiation in hotels. colour selection is a very personal choice; to impose vivid colours on 500 hotel guest might be too egoistic!

We introduce elements of warm or energetic tones in certain locations and a lot depends on the personality of the client or the hotel operator. A neutral colour palette still rules the day.

7. What is the next trend in the hotel industry?

Small hotel rooms combined with amazing public facilities.

“Hotel design evolves with the needs of the end user ”

Cedric Jaccard

2010 Herman Miller Asia Learning Forum in Phuket, Thailand

Herman Miller employees and dealers from the Asia Pacific region gathered in the balmy Laguna Beach Resort in Phuket, Thailand, set along side the breathtaking views of the cerulean Andaman Sea for the 2010 Herman Miller Asia Learning Forum (ALF).

In his opening address, Jeremy Hocking, Vice-President of Herman Miller Asia Pacific mentioned, “We are not fair weather friends - we know how hard all of you have worked to sustain your businesses during the economic downturn. We will never be complacent about our relationship with you - our dealers in Asia.

The team has been working very hard to deliver continuous improvement in our Product Offer to enable you to Win. I want Herman Miller to become "difficult to beat" in the market and with all the new stuff we are bringing to you I know that the competitors are already feeling the difference as you step up to compete against them every day.

So my vision for Herman Miller is that we double our business together in Asia - and that means all of you! We'll work harder than ever with you to achieve dramatic growth in the months and years ahead”.

Workshops – More Product. Broaden Opportunity
The resort was dressed with numerous banners to help way-finding to the numerous workshops that prompted even other hotel guests to ask “Who is Herman Miller?”

Over two days, our dealer attended 16 workshops, 45 minutes each, all punctuated with pots of strong coffee and intensely sugary “hotel –made” cookies. We thought the dealers might pass out by the last workshop; we gave out quiches and sandwiches for fortification as dealers zoomed along corridors between workshops; not unlike flinging Gatorades to runners in a full marathon race.

To enhance the mood, we ordered the heavens to open up and it rained non-stop for all two days of the ALF. It felt more like Twilight than Mama Mia - but spirits were high!

We pulled together a colourful agenda of workshops, presented by an all star cast of talented Herman Miller personnel and partners.

The Asia dealers had their first preview of Yves Béhar’s Sayl Chair as well as the Advo Chair designed by ITO Design Group. Both products are enormously important for the Asia Pacific region – satisfying a gap in our product portfolio that was badly needed and it was all love at first sight.

Frank Di Giorgio from Living Edge mentioned that if they can sell thousands of Mirra Chairs a year – the utterly fantastic Sayl will easily triple that volume! Dealers are already asking “When can we order!”

Each workshop was conducted in a suite room in groups of less than twenty that kept the sessions very intimate.

Michael Tyrell created greater awareness around the CBS product range. Chris Woolston from Forward Thinking shared with us his progressive views in the “Agile Working” class.

Marketing for Asia never looked more prospective and exciting, presented by Caroline Perry on behalf of the group – dealers are treated to our vision of the future – the freshly introduced REACH newsletter, website revamp, Asia facebook, I-Kiosk, retail initiatives and more.

Hotels present yet another opportunity of growth. Bhupinder Singh Mindas – the Head of Hospitality Sales AP shared his thoughts and success stories with us. Sayl and Setu chairs, he said are perfect fit for Hotels looking for discrete and elegant solutions that does not scream “task chair”.

Setu and its family of products continue to impress. Dealers were given the first previews to Setu Stool and upholstered Setu Chair, presented by Peggy Yu, Seating Product Manager.

2010 is indeed annus mirabilis for Herman Miller Asia with three new major products being introduced – Arras, Advo and SAYL.

Arras designed by the Herman Miller Research and Development Group led by Marc Fong had won us plenty of business and accolades from the design community.

Launched in June, we had installed projects in all major Asian cities. Architects and designers are clearly smitten with the psychedelic range of colour options as well as its superior performance to support openness and connectivity in a mobile working environment. The preview to phase 2 Arras screens, task lighting and accessory range drew awed responses. Our success with Arras had just begun!

Open Dialogue - True Insights
This conference is so special because it was all about listening to the dealers rather than just broadcasting. Each workshop on new product development became a test bed for ideas.

R&D Workshops conducted by ever affable Marc Fong gave dealers an exclusive preview to the upcoming products for the “Retreat” portfolio – Fab 6 – which is about 6 designers from 6 different cities as well as the new Herman Miller Collection.

We crowd sourced for ideas with a no-holds-barred honesty on design gaps in our products.

Abak Environment is our biggest furniture product group and we believe there is still a rapidly growing market for Abak Environments. Will a whole new screen solution excite you and fulfil the needs of your market? How about new cable management options?

How important are height adjustable tables for your market? What is the warranty provided by the competitors? Are we there yet with this design? How can we help you grow your retail business? Will you be ready for a retail expansion when we have the new R&D “Fab 6” programme ready? Could you see the Retail is a natural diversification from the contract business that will help you in cyclic downturns?

We listened hard and carefully to each response and every comment made had given us extraordinary insights to each market.

Entertainment
After such intensive cerebral activities – we needed to activate our fun cells. The best interactions still take place offline!

Dinner - We were treated to a sumptuous feast of Thai cuisine as well as a crowd pleasing traditional Thai cultural dance. The culinary efforts of the hotel chef was not put to waste as we gobbled our way through platters of delectable canapés - ‘crispy on the outside, tender inside’ ethereal spring rolls, wantons and samosa – chow down with wine as we mingled, networked, exchanged name-cards and promises to visit – Yes we will come to Beijing and .. Mumbai and New Zealand. And please add us to your Facebook account!

Alan Bertenshaw of Matisse (longest serving dealership in Asia – 17 years!) celebrated his birthday on the 13th October with the Herman Miller family and we think he still looks 25!

Marc Fong and Samantha Giam then took central stage as hosts – and had the crowd in stitches with witty retorts and the jokes flew fast during quizzes and group games.

The first question of the night’s quiz was “Who designed the Herman Miller Logo?” – after at least six wrong answers (People should really read our newsletter - Reach), Niall Mclaughlin from Living Edge finally got the question correct – Irving Harper and walked away with a limited edition Hang-it-all.

Dealers were infinitely charmed by Jeremy Hocking, VP for Asia Pacific, who "clearly loved spending quality time with every dealer. “He is so personable, approachable –you can tell him everything!”

As we said our goodbyes to our friends who had travelled from more than 10 different countries, we could not help but feel that we had accomplished what we set out to do with this forum – a deeper connection with Herman Miller, heightened sense of understanding of what we do and knowing that Herman Miller is there to support our growth.

“I am honoured to be a Herman Miller dealer,” said Hong Lyoul Lee, Vice President of Gareem, Korea.

“I have fallen in love with Herman Miller all over again – It feels like the beginning of a new era and I am so proud that I will be part of this journey,” expressed Umesh Munot, Managing Partner of Workrite, India

“2010 is indeed annus mirabilis for Herman Miller Asia
with three
new major products being introduced – Arras, Advo and SAYL. ”

Introducing Cochin to
Herman Miller

- by Tulika Anand

Herman Miller’s willingness to go just about anywhere to bring their products to the customers led them to spread their wings more widely down south.

Having enjoyed successful dealer partnerships in major cities of the country, Herman Miller took a step further into strengthening our partnership with Prime Commercials, an important Herman Miller product dealer based out of Kerala.

The brand new showroom inaugurated in the state capital, Kochi marked Herman Miller’s entry in the exotic land of coconuts and backwaters.

Jeremy Hocking formally inaugurated the Herman Miller exclusive showroom on August 31, 2010. Herman Miller is one of the first international brands to set shop in the state of Kerela and have sensed a great level of enthusiasm and acceptance within the design community and clients.

The inauguration event witnessed the presence of the entire design community, clients and all the leading local and national dailies and news channels, followed by press adverts all across the state the next day. The showroom will display complete range of Herman Miller products.

“The new showroom inaugurated in the state capital, Kochi marked Herman Miller’s entry in the exotic land of coconuts and backwaters. ”

Herman Miller Australia sponsors the Property Council Congress 2010

- by Caroline Perry

For the second year in a row Herman Miller Australia was proud to sponsor the Property Council’s 2010 Congress.

With the key themes of re-ignite, renew and reshape, the 2010 Congress was once again an important industry event in the Australian calendar and delivered powerful insights and trends for the future.

“This event enabled us to connect with key members of the industry and gave attendees the opportunity to interact with our brand and products. For over 100 years, Herman Miller has been designing and developing award-winning furniture to create a better world around you and partnering with the Property Council is another way we help support the industry as a whole,”
said Paul MacDonald, Sales Director of Australia and NZ .

“For the second year in a row Herman Miller Australia was proud to sponsor the Property Council’s 2010 Congress”

Official Launch Party of the new LEED Gold certified Herman Miller showroom in Shanghai

- by Amy Li

Herman Miller gladly announces that Herman Miller Shanghai earns LEED Gold certificate for its new showroom located at 550 Jumen Road in the Bridge 8.

As an environmentally progressive company for more than a century now, Herman Miller is pledged to continue exploring new and innovative approaches to creating green buildings and offices.

We have built a two storey bare-shell space into a retail space that functions as a showroom as well as the touchdown space for local staff based in Shanghai.

We utilized the floor-to-ceiling glass facades on three sides of the project space – allowing natural light into our space and fascinating views of the neighbourhood. We incorporated water efficient fixtures, automated lighting sensors and brought over most of our furniture and wherever we could- items from our old office.

We held our opening party on the 10 November, welcoming over 300 guests into our new premise. The enormous ‘chair tree’ constructed with Eames Shell chairs drew awed responses. All the guests had a great time while enjoying the well selected vintage wine and Italian food.

The well organized 5 rounds of lucky draw resulted in a happy lot of people claiming their win for Leaf light, Setu Multipurpose chair, 2 Setu Lounges, and an Embody. Meanwhile, every guest received a goody bag.

“Herman Miller Shanghai earns LEED Gold certificate for its new showroom located at 550 Jumen Road in the Bridge 8.”

With DesignMile: Design Goes The Extra Mile

- by Tulika Anand

Herman Miller India Co- Sponsored event “The Home Review DesignMile” staged a unique celebration of Product Design from the 6-13th of November in Mumbai. Aimed at showcasing the work of India’s most promising product designers, the buzzing hub of Bandra in Mumbai witnessed a design showcase like never.

As a finale to a 2-month long design competition, the top 10 Finalists of the Home Review DesignMile converged at Bandra, Mumbai between the 6th and 13th of November 2010 to showcase their unique product design ideas at hip bars, cafes and stores in Bandra like Out of the Blue, Le Sutra, Olive, Crepe Station, Molto Bello, The Bagel Shop, Theobroma, Mocha Mojo, Elbo Room, Turqoise, Crosswords and Sandwich & Co.

Herman Miller hosted a series of rendezvous at these fabulous venues for this design enriching experience. The design community and industry related members were invited to be a part of it and encourage the young talented product designers. All the visitors of the event also savoured the interesting display of Herman Miller’s iconic product designs at the Le Sutra Art Gallery.

The 10 finalists represent the ‘best of young product design’ talent from across the country and on display are a variety of inspired creations that include Bo – the bamboo lamp, Ello – the Umbrella holder, Iris – the stool, Puffy – a mild steel seat, the Clip, Coropod the sink, the Recline chair, the Converse seat, Untime – the clock and the Quirky Cart collection.

Also doing the rounds was the DesignMile week wagon – a car that cruised the neighborhood in Bandra, encouraging people to draw their favourite product and ‘post-it’ in exchange for a DesignMile goody bag.

And the 3 final winners were...
Andrea Noronha for her product, the Bo lamp which is made from a single piece of bamboo.

Aashish Patel’s Puffy – the M.S. Seat. Made from a single sheet of mild steel, the chair is cut and bent into a structure that is shaped like a seat.

Vritima Wadhwa’s, ‘Recline’ chair was the third winner.

The 3 winners of the Home Review DesignMile were felicitated at a press conference held on 12th November and will soon find themselves on their way to Paris to visit the prestigious Maison and Objet design fair and then travel to the Red Dot museum in Germany!

“Herman Miller India
Co- Sponsored event “The Home Review DesignMile” is staging a unique celebration of Product Design”

The new Herman Miller SAYL chair.
See how it feels to live unframed.

People at their best live unframed, going beyond expectations to surprise and delight us. With SAYL, we set out to design and build a chair family that gives form to that spirit. Working with designer Yves Béhar, we created a design as affordable as it is inventive.

Inspired by Suspension
Béhar began by looking at examples of design that deliver the most with the least. He wondered: Can the same principles that suspend a bridge over water be applied to a chair? The answer was yes, the result is SAYL.

3D Intelligent™ Technology
Our work with Yves Béhar achieved a breakthrough in seating technology. The SAYL full-suspension back is literally frameless. It encourages a full range of movement while seated, supporting the body all the while.

No frame means no hard edges. Support is moulded directly into the strands, more in areas that need it, less elsewhere for freer movement.

Support is moulded directly into the 3D Intelligent back material. Support is greater in areas where needed—sacrum, lumbar, and spine—lesser elsewhere for freer movement.

The back supports the transition area from the thoracic to lumbar areas and again between the lumbar and sacral areas. “Hinge points” allow these areas to flex and adapt to each individual while supporting the healthy, forward rotation of the pelvis.

The chair’s distinctive Y–Tower™ structure provides the connection points for the suspension back. It is the foundation of the chair’s distinctive arc, which mirrors the curvature of the spine.
The ArcSpan seat base, arm structure, and tilt mechanism undercarriage are fused into one strong part; this single part reduces the chair’s material content, as well as its visual “weight.”
Height-adjustable arms move vertically over a four-inch range. Fully adjustable arms move vertically, as well as front to back and inward and outward.

SAYL Family
Our passion for finding better ways for everyone to sit guided the development of SAYL. Our effort resulted in a family of chairs. Work chairs in a mid-high back feature the 3D Intelligent suspension. Upholstered work chairs include mid- and high-back models. Side chairs—in four-leg or sled base—come in suspension, upholstered, and plastic backs.

Colour Your World
SAYL colour choices contribute to the chair’s visual lightness and transparency. And gives you plenty of room for personal expression. The organic shape of the SAYL back makes it elegant anywhere, from office to home.

Colours
The colour realm of SAYL begins with a base colour choice combined with expressive to classic colours for the seat, back, and arm pads. Colours and materials can be mixed for a bold look or aligned for a more traditional approach.

Body of Comfort
For over 75 years, we’ve immersed ourselves in the art and science of seating. SAYL reflects that passion in the inventive ways it supports the body.

“We created a design as affordable as it is inventive. ”

Herman Miller Australia hosts a private preview of our SAYL prototypes – in a dramatic setting overlooking SydneyHarbour.

With the Opera House and Sydney Harbour as a shimmering backdrop, the Herman Miller Australia team hosted a select group of people as the first audience in Asia Pacific, to preview the SAYL chair prototypes by celebrated designer Yves Béhar.

The emphasis was firmly on education as our team outlined the four year journey and partnership between Herman Miller and Yves Béhar that has resulted in this revolutionary chair.

Guests were interested in the progression of the prototypes and appreciated having an inside view of the development process. And, when it came time to try the chairs, they were enthusiastic in their approach and reaction with many referencing projects that SAYL would be perfect for. The result? A universally positive review of this stage of SAYL’s development and a long list of requests for samples of the chair and release date (oh and lunch was delicious too).

"It’s human nature to seek life unframed"

Yves Béhar

Did you know?

The Story behind the Eames Lounge and Ottoma
- by Carissa Carter

“Take your pleasure seriously,” said Charles Eames. Fifty-four years after its introduction, the Eames lounge chair and ottoman is still the pinnacle of luxury and comfort.

The now-iconic moulded plywood chair with leather cushions, the Eames lounge made its debut on the Arlene Francis “Home” show on NBC in the United States. Both Charles and Ray Eames appeared on the show and the unveiling included a short video clip of the chair being assembled and disassembled by a Herman Miller employee, highlighting its simplicity in construction.

Today, Eames lounge chairs are still hand assembled. The first chair was created as a gift for Billy Wilder, director of “Some Like It Hot,” and “Sunset Blvd,” and was made with Brazilian rosewood. This is the only aspect of the original chair that has changed through the years. Today’s wood selection includes only woods from sustainable forests.

Now anyone can create a piece of serious pleasure with shells made from santos palisander, cherry, natural cherry, or walnut. A resident in the permanent collection of MoMa, the Eames lounge and Ottoman is as sought after today as is was in 1956.

“Eames lounge made its debut on the Arlene Francis “Home” show on NBC in the United States”

The Pink Eames Shell Chair :
- by Caroline Perry

Did you know that the Eames Moulded Plastic chairs were the first ones created for mass production?

A landmark design from Charles and Ray Eames, these were the first industrially manufactured plastic chairs, and the first plastic chairs to be left uncovered.

As beloved today as when they were first introduced in 1948 the chairs have achieved a pervasive presence that proves that the staying power of good design can be shared by everyone. They work and look good in conference and waiting rooms, kids' rooms and family rooms, kitchens, and offices.

Like most of the Eames’ furniture, the bases acquired fun names like cat’s cradle, X-base, and the Eiffel Tower. Eventually offered with over two dozen different bases, the Eames Moulded Plastic chairs come in versions that rock, swivel, roll, adjust, or just “sit”.

Available in a myriad of colours the shells are dyed throughout so the colours are integral and remain vibrant even after years of hard use.

Coming soon, for a limited time will be a special edition in Pink!

“ Coming soon, for a limited time will be a special edition in Pink!”

Airbiz, Melbourne, Australia

Company:
Airbiz

Location:
Melbourne, Australia

Project Scope:
20 workstations

Featured Products:
Sense Workstations
Mirra Chairs
Connection Series Storage

“Express your workspace with Herman Miller extensive portfolio of furniture solutions. We showcase our recent accomplish-ments”

Tony Wu

Open Text, Hyderabad, India

Advo Chair by ITO Design

- by Peggy Yu

Advo comes from the word “advocate”.

An advocate speaks on behalf of someone or something and it describes the Advo family of chairs. It is designed in partnership with ITO, a German-based firm with a proven track record in seating design.

Advo family of chairs offers you quality and performance at a price that will surprise you. Advo provides customer with choices that meet their aesthetic and budget goals, customers can dress up or dress down their chair from simple aesthetic of basic chair to refined finishing touches of work chair.

Japan – Marunouchi Herman Miller flagship showroom

- by Samantha Giam

The first store in the world to be operated directly by Herman Miller – opening in Marunouchi on December 11, 2010 – home users can now purchase directly from Herman Miller timeless design classic of Charles and Ray Eames, George Nelson and no forgetting the renowned ergonomic task chairs like Aeron and latest released Embody.