If it’s time to head inside to beat the heat, do yourself a favor and make it downtown for a current design exhibit at AMOA, Good Design: Stories From Herman Miller, running until September 11, 2011.

Based in the tiny town of Zeeland, Michigan, Herman Miller, Inc. was founded in 1923 and has just celebrated 23 years as “Most Admired” in Fortune magazine’s annual survey. Known for innovative design that seeks to “design and build a better world”, Herman Miller has been home to many great American furniture designers with results ranging from Charles and Ray Eames’’s molded plywood Lounge Chair, George Nelson’s Marshmallow Sofa (arguably the most iconic modernist sofa design) and Bill Stumpf and Don Chadwick’s Aeron Chair. The touring exhibit uses drawings, prototypes, photographs, oral histories, and original design objects to give us a peek into the genesis of these masterpieces and others considered important to 20th and 21st century design.

Good Design: Stories From Herman Miller runs until September 11
Austin Museum of Art
823 Congress Avenue at 9th Street; 512/495-9224
Tue., Wed., Fri.: 10am-5pm; Thu.: 10am-8pm; Sat.: 10am-6pm; Sun.: Noon-5pm
Admission: Adults, $5; Seniors/Students, $4; Under 12 Free

Eames molded plywood Lounge Chairs

Herman Miller, Inc. design yard in Zeeland, Michigan

George Nelson’s Marshmallow Sofa

Don Chadwick and Bill Stumpf’s Aeron Chair

This article appears in August 12 • 2011.

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