The brilliant students at Wellesley College probably don’t need a reason to go to the library, but if they do, I suggest they spend time in the room filled with Womb Chairs. Eero Saarinen designed this chair in 1948, after Florence Knoll challenged him to create a chair that she could curl up in. Florence didn’t go to Wellesley College, but the result of her challenge to Saarinen should earn her an honorary degree.
The Lulu Chow Wang Campus Center at Wellesley College is an engaging structure that I hope to tell you more about in an upcoming Design Notes. It’s also the location of a recent DWR sighting: Series 7 Chairs (which were designed by Arne Jacobsen in 1955) in assorted colors are used throughout the space. P.S. Our classics are rarely on sale, but you can save on the Series 7 Chair during our Semiannual Sale through October 13.
Charles and Ray Eames created the DAW (dining armchair with wood base) and DSW (dining side chair with wood base) as a later version of the shell chair designs they created for MoMA’s 1948 International Competition for Low-Cost Furniture Design. At that time, the Eameses stamped the shells out of metal. Later they moved to fiberglass, and today the chairs are made of a more ecologically supportable material, recyclable polypropylene. While the materials have evolved, the comfort of these chairs has not changed. The molded shells have high, flexible backs, deep seat pockets and waterfall seat edges that reduce pressure on the backs of thighs. These originals are authentic, fully licensed products of Herman Miller, Inc., and until November 23, they're available only at DWR. Eames is a licensed trademark of Herman Miller.
According to an exhibit at San Francisco’s Academy of Art University, there’s a bit of Florence Knoll in everyone’s office space. The exhibit includes a message that reads, “The traditional mid-century desk was an oblong box with many drawers and a table behind it that tended to become cluttered with paper. Florence Knoll reversed this plan, creating a desk that could be used as a conference table and adding a credenza behind it for ample concealed storage.”
The exhibit ends today, October 25, but you may still be able to watch a video about it on the Academy’s website.
On Wednesday, actor Ed Norton and San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom went to Congress with their principled stances on constructing sustainable, energy-efficient buildings. During the hearing with the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, it only made sense that they’d be sitting “green” chairs. Ann Blackwell, proprietor of the Georgetown Studio and LEED AP, ensured that they had comfortable, ergonomic and eco-friendly places to sit. Ed Norton is pictured in a Mirra® Task Chair (above), while Mr. Newsom was seated in a Chadwick™ Chair. Ann reported back that she and DWR were thanked by Chairman Edward J. Markey (Democrat from MA), and that Mr. Norton’s testimony was most powerful and compelling. Read the statements from the hearing and see more pictures here.
