Herman Miller has pioneered many design innovations throughout its history. Now, it is revisiting an earlier chapter of its storied past with its announced return to exterior spaces. The company has introduced an expansive offering of outdoor furniture, combining newly minted iconic designs from its archive with the contemporary work of some of today’s best known designers.

This includes the Eames Aluminium Group (EAG) Outdoor collection; a variety of eponymous table designs by Charles and Ray Eames and George Nelson; and a range of seating and table solutions for the commercial market by its partner Magis, including the work of Konstantin Grcic, Jasper Morrison, and the brothers Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec.

Along with its outdoor offering, Herman Miller is also introducing the renewed Herman Miller Collection, a comprehensive portfolio of products that gives customers the ability to select, furnish and create complete environments in myriad settings – from the backyard to the corporate boardroom, with solutions that serve home, hospitality and commercial spaces.

Eames lounge for the outdoors

Eames Aluminium Group – A Classic Revisited

Charles and Ray Eames’ design of the Aluminium Group Lounge Chair consisted of a unique fabric seat slung between two aluminium ‘L’ beams. In the chair’s original incarnation, a nylon and saran covering was employed to enable outdoor use. Despite the designers’ best efforts, the new material didn’t fare well in the elements or stand up to heavy use, and the Aluminium Group soon moved exclusively indoors.

Eames tables for the outdoors

Today the Aluminium Group chairs have been completely re-engineered for outdoor use with durable materials and finish options. Materials consultant Susan Lyons led Herman Miller’s development of a proprietary new fabric, Outdoor Weave, synthesizing the look and feel of the original saran with the technical capabilities of Pellicle, the company’s breakthrough suspension fabric first developed for its Aeron chair.

Nelson Pedestal tables for the outdoors

Eames and Nelson tables

Outdoor surfaces need to be able to stand up to the elements. The Herman Miller Collection responds with the reintroduction of stone top options on Eames and Nelson tables. Sourced from North American quarries and available in 4 varieties – Georgia White Marble, Wisconsin Black Marble, Georgia Grey Marble, and Quebec Graphite Granite – these durable tops will now grace the Eames Universal, Contract, and LTR bases, as well as the Nelson Pedestal table, in a range of heights and diameters, for both indoors or out.

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