Posh becomes Herman Miller…

After what seems a long time, POSH Office Systems formally became an integrated part of the Herman Miller family.  Back in the first quarter of 2011 Posh and Herman Miller announced that after 2 years of an alliance partnership, the companies agreed to bring POSH into the corporate family.

 This was a significant move by Herman Miller to gain access to the Chinese market, an opportunity that could provide strong growth in a constantly changing global market.  POSH who are based out of Hong Kong, are a respected manufacturer and with a major international player behind them could become a lead player as demand for US and European products increases.

POSH

Herman Miller in bid to protect its design rights down under

 

Herman Miller is taking an Matt Blatt, an Australian supplier of replica furniture to the Australian Federal Court in order to stop it from using the famous Eames name.

 Matt Blatt sells many replica products at a fraction of the price of the real thing.  Herman Miller claim that the company has infringed trademark, contravened the Trades Practices Act and Australian Consumer Law and that it is ultimately passing off its products as genuine Herman Miller.

 Adam Drexler, the owner of Matt Blatt, is standing by his right to sell replica designer furniture and intends to challenge Herman Miller. ”I believe that good design should not be something one should aspire to but be readily available to everyone – not just those in the top levels of income,” says Adam Drexler.

 Matt Blatt, like many of the replica designer furniture companies which have sprung up in recent years always refer to their products as replicas e.g. replica Eames DSE Side Chair.  The courts have yet to decide if it is an infringement of intellectual property to refer to a trade mark in this way.  If the courts find in favour of Herman Miller, it could pave the way to many other cases being brought to law courts across the world.

 The first hearing is scheduled for today.

Eames lounge chair and ottoman (1956)

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The first Eames lounge chair and ottoman was made as a gift for Billy Wilder, the director of “Some Like It Hot,” “Irma La Douce,” and “Sunset Blvd.”

The heritage of the chair goes back to the moulded plywood chairs pioneered by the Eames’s in the 1940s.  Charles Eames said his goal for the chair was the warm, receptive look of a well-used first baseman’s mitt and a special refuge from the strains of modern living.

The first lounge chair and ottoman produced by Herman Miller, in 1956, made its public debut on Arlene Francis‘s Home show, a predecessor of the Today show. Commenting on the unique design, Charles Eames told Francis, “We’ve never designed for a fashion, and the Herman Miller furniture company has never, ever requested that we do pieces for a market.”

The lounge chair and ottoman have been in production ever since and the rights are still owned in the US by Herman Miller and today in Europe, the Middle East and Africa by Vitra.

Images from Herman Miller Inc and Vitra

Video from www.findmetheoriginal.com

FX International Interior Design Awards 2010

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The 30th November will see the Grosvenor House Hotel, Park Lane, play host again to this year’s FX International Interior Design Awards. The awards are always an end of year highlight and a welcome break on the final leg to the Christmas and New Year’s holidays.

FX Magazine has been asking readers to vote online for the various awards categories, as well as the Special Awards. In this category there are 4 sections:

Breakthrough Talent of the Year:
Yonoh Studio Creative, The Be Collective, Kompott, Michael Warren, Alexander Palme, Jochem Faudet & Min-Kyu Choi

Product Designer of the Year:
AnL Studio, Antonio Citterio, Priestmangoode, Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec & Yves Behar

Interior Design Practice of the Year:
BDG Workfutures, Blacksheep, DesignLSM, ID-SR, Max Bentheim, Mionistry of Design, RMJM, Swanke Hayden Connell, TP Bennett & Universal Design Studio

Outstanding Lifetime Contribution to Design:
Frank Gehry, Georgio Borruso, Jean Nouvel, Karim Rashid, Nicolas Grimshaw, Nigel Coates & Seymourpowell

And for the remaining short list comprises:
Shortlist

2010 Product of the Year
(in alphabetical order)
• Arc Table Foster+Partners
• Bolon Botanic Flooring Concepts
• Built-In Line of Refrigeration / Freezers Sub–Zero
• C-Joint SAS International
• FLO Colebrook Bosson Saunders
• Horizon LED Light Humanscale
• Innova Roca
• Kruze Lounge Boss Design
• media:scape Steelcase Design Studio in collaboration with IDEO
• ON Wilkhahn

Bar or Restaurant
(in alphabetical order)
• L’anima Restaurant Claudio Silvestrin Architects
• Little Chef, Popham Ab Rogers Design In Collaboration with Heston Blumenthal And Praline
• London Wall Bar And Kitchen Light + Design Associates and Path Design
• Nando’s Spinningfield, Manchester Buckley Gray Yeoman
• Rosa’s Soho Gundry & Ducker Architecture
• The Anthologist Fusion Design And Architecture
• The French Cafä©, Balham Platform Group
• The Parlour Fusion Design And Architecture

Eco Product or Project 2010
(in alphabetical order)
• Dulux Trade Ecosure Light & Space, Dulux Trade
• Everything Old is New AgainThinking Ergonomix
• Horizon LED Light Humanscale
• Straightforward InterfaceFLOR
• The Scarlet Hotel Max Bentheim with Harrison Sutton Architects & Client

Hotel
(in alphabetical order)
• 8 Degrees Hotel P A L Design Consultants Ltd
• Hotel Park Inn virgile and stone
• Hoxton Hotel, London, UK Project Orange
• The Scarlet Hotel Max Bentheim
• Town Hall Hotel & Apartments Rare Architecture & Client
• Yas Hotel Jestico + Whiles

Leisure or Entertainment Venue
(in alphabetical order)
• Atlantis Kids Adventures (AKA) Launch by Design Inc.
• Oasis Club P A L Design Consultants Ltd
• Spa by MTM P A L Design Consultants Ltd
• The BugWorld Experience MET Studio (with retail design by Cubit3D)
• The Rainbow House Ab Rogers Design in collaboration with DA.Studio
• The Set David Collins Studio
• Virgin Atlantic London Gatwick Clubhouse FD Architecture in collaboration with Virgin Atlantic Airways In-House Design Team

Lighting Design
(in alphabetical order)
• Banana Republic Regent Street Light and Design Associates
• Chan Restaurant, Thessaloniki L+DG Thomas Gravanis Lighting Architects
• Darwin Centre 2 Sutton Vane Associates
• Infinity Bridge, Stockton on Tees, UK Speirs and Major Associates
• Regent’s Place Pavilion Maurice Brill Lighting Design Ltd
• The Dorchester Spa, Park Lane, London Light and Design Associates Ltd
• The Met Hotel, Thessaloniki L+DG Thomas Gravanis Lighting Architects

Lighting Product
(in alphabetical order)
• Discus Zumtobel Lighting Limited
• Hi-Glo and Lo-Glo BMW DesignworksUSA
• Horizon LED Light Humanscale
• iTrack Fagerhult Group
• LEDVANCEA™ DOWNLIGHT L OSRAM
• Panos Infinity Zumtobel Lighting Limited
• Strobilus Strobilus Paviom

Museum or Exhibition Space
(in alphabetical order)
• Archaeology Museum Eggenberg BWM Architekten
• Cascade Coil DesignEX Stand HASSELL
• Contemplating Monolithic Design Universal Design Studio and BarberOsgerby
• Florence Nightingale Museum Kossmann.dejong
• Level Green-The Concept Of Sustainability J. Mayer H. Architects /
Media Design: Art + Com
• Medieval & Renaissance Galleries, Victoria & Albert Museum, London MUMA
• NY 11-18-02-10 Campaign

Public Leisure or Workspace Furniture
(in alphabetical order)
• AP STOOL ASTUDIO
• Cloth Cassina
• Eclipse Breakout Furniture System Craig Jones Design LTD
• FREEDOM BARSTOOL Stefano Sandona
• Metro40 Collection Landscape Forms and BMW DesignworksUSA
• Miami Collection Morgan Furniture
• PARCS PearsonLloyd
• Setu Herman Miller

Public Sector
(in alphabetical order)
• Cardiff Library BDP
• Culcheth High School, Warrington BDP
• School of Arts, University of Kent Hawkins\Brown
• Star Dental Alliance Novus Petralis Ltd
• Stoke Newington Town Hall and Assembly Hall Hawkins\Brown
• Trinity Hospice tp bennett
• ZZ Sankt Georg, dentist practice J. MAYER H. Architects, Berlin

Public Space
(in alphabetical order)
• Bedtime Stories (Outdoor) Carmen Baselga_Taller de proyectos
• CircleBath Hospital Foster + Partners
• Crystal Design Centre, Building E dwp cityspace Ltd.
• Fen Court City of London/Burns + Nice
• FENWICK BOND STREET POWDER ROOM STUDIO DB LTD
• Tower 42 ADP/Paul Crofts Studio

Retail Space
(in alphabetical order)
• Dr. Martens Pop-Up Store Campaign
• Etisalat Telecommunications at Dubai Mall Alfred Johnson
• H&M Universal Design Studio
• Jab Anstoetz London Showroom Cameron Black, Geekie Design and Scarib Design
• Kipling Universal Design Studio
• Moss Bespoke / Blomfield Street Household Design
• Poltrona Frau Universal Design Studio
• Rw & Co Ii By Iv Design Associates Inc.
• ‘Shoe Gallery’ Floor – Oxford Circus Store New Look Retailers
• V2k Designers Nisantasi Autoban

Surfaces
(in alphabetical order)
• Aiveen Daly Nail Applique Aiveen Daly
• Bolon Botanic Flooring Concepts
• Consequence Collection Milliken Contract
• Dupont Corian “Math” Collection Of 3d Decorative Wall Panels Dupont Corian
• Metal Collection Amtico International
• Ornamental Partitioning Rare Architecture
• Social Collection Shaw Contract Group

Workplace Seating
(in alphabetical order)
• Generation by Knoll Formway Design
• i2i workplace seating (product) Steelcase Design Studio in collaboration with Thomas Overthun of IDEO
• ON Wilkhahn
• Sayl Herman Miller
• Strive Nesting KI

Workplace Environment
(in alphabetical order)
• Anz Centre Hassell
• Avon Cosmetics New UK Headquarters HKS
• Cohn & Wolfe, Lynton House London Morey Smith
• Discovery Networks Benelux, Amsterdam GMW Architects
• Fred Perry Reception Buckley Gray Yeoman
• Green & Blacks Scott Brownrigg Interiors
• Guardian News & Media tp Bennett
• Gunpowder Mill Pollard Thomas Edwards Architects
• One Shelley Street Clive Wilkinson Architects

Workplace Systems Furniture
(in alphabetical order)
• Everything Old is New Again Thinking Ergonomix
• Fusion Steelcase
• Kiron Haworth
• Meridian Herman Miller

For more details and to book your seats for the 2010 FX Awards click here