In July of 1930, as the Great Depression was starting to tighten its grip on America, Industrial Designer Gilbert Rohde walked into Herman Miller’s Grand Rapids showroom and changed the face of furniture design forever.

Fuelled by a love of the Bauhaus, Rohde had a vision of human-centred design, where the object was less about designing pieces, and more about designing a lifestyle. After convincing founder D.J. De Pree to take him (and his vision) on, Rohde helped to pivot the company’s model from antique reproductions to modernism designed for the people. As Design Director, he was responsible for building Herman Miller into the global icon it is today, creating furniture and a brand that is deeply intuitive to the way we live. 

Today, Herman Miller pays homage to Rohde by reintroducing two of his visionary pieces. The launch of the Rohde Collection will see the “The Easy Chair” and the “Paldao Table” enter circulation for the first time in over 80 years, giving design lovers the chance to experience a piece of modernist history that is still just as relevant for today.

Rohde Easy Chair 

One of Rohde’s last designs before his sudden death in 1944, the Easy Chair is an enveloping armchair that is biomorphic in look and feel. While the tufted pattern across the seat and back may evoke a more traditional typology, the sinuous silhouette is anything but, with typical pieces of the era tending towards rectilinear and modular. Together with his collaborator and wife Peggy Ann Mack, Rohde pioneered a shift towards organic shapes, drawing inspiration from contemporary art to create lithe, curved pieces that would come to define the Midcentury Modern movement.

One of two pieces in the rereleased Rohde Collection, today’s Easy Chair features the same authenticity of design and unparalleled craftsmanship of the original product, but can now be specified in leather or a selection of plush textiles. Simple in function but complex in execution, the chair remains true to Rohde’s human-centred philosophy, with its continued relevance testament to the success of his approach and the allure of great design.

Rohde Paldao Table 

The Paldao Table will join the Easy Chair as the key pieces of the Rohde Collection; a pairing of freeform silhouettes that create a dialogue between past and present. Featuring a curvy, organic top, the table combines a hardness and softness of design, which is as unique now as it was in the 1940s. Available in coffee and side table sizes, each piece juxtaposes curvature with the sturdiness of solid wood, a visual contrast only possible through careful and expert craftsmanship, and the selection of premium timber stock.

Showcasing Rohde’s avant-garde nature and eye for detail, the Paldao Table is a celebration of honest materials and epitomises the rise of American fine furniture as a talisman of the modernist movement.

Relaunching a legacy

In a world of “fast furniture”, the rerelease of the Easy Chair and the Paldao Table are a reminder of the permanence of good design and exceptional craftsmanship. Though first made decades ago, their human-centred design renders them timeless, rising above trend and style to still be relevant to architecture and design today.

As pieces of Herman Miller history, the Rohde Collection epitomises Gilbert Rohde’s legacy, bringing his most iconic pieces back into circulation so the world can once again appreciate his enduring vision for inherently intuitive furniture.

Herman Miller
hermanmiller.com

Gilbert Rohde
hermanmiller.com/en_au/designers/rohde/