Haworth New Office Furniture System: Rolling side table / Herman Miller New Office Furniture System: Rolling table

1985

Work of Art for Project, Office Furniture Prototype

Rolling side table made of black lucite surfaces with heavy brass castors, used for miscellaneous machines and equipment, and sundry small items. Furniture prototype incorporated in the Center for Environmental Structure office. A version of this, constructed in solid wood, was developed in 1988 for the Herman Miller office furniture system.

Created by:

Christopher Alexander, Artemis Anninou, Gary Black

Content of

Project

New System of Office Furniture for Haworth, Inc. 1985 to 1986

Holland, MI, U.S.A.

Office Furniture, Designed , Furniture prototypes built by C.E.S.

Client:

Haworth Manufacturing, Inc. - Tom Hench

C.E.S. staff:

Christopher Alexander, Artemis Anninou, Gary Black, Mark Brinner

Design and construction process:

Theree design principles guided the development of the project: 1) Layout of the personal work space by their users in order to meet their own personal needs; this process is achievable through the use of a computer program developed at C.E.S. which carries a worker through the design process. 2) Use of flexible manufacturing techniques, which allow individualisation of each piece of furniture, without increasing costs; the purpose of this feature is to eliminate the modularity that is part and parcel of current systems. 3) The basis of design is the real human needs and desires, not on the latest trend.

Project stages:

Pattern language for project by C.E.S. Generic rules for office layout process Use of full scale mock-ups Fabrication of full size furniture prototypes by C.E.S. Design Development drawings done after fabrication

The new system of office furniture, intended for mass production, was designed in such a way as to be capable of creating the environment for millions of workers, in an endless variety of specific configurations. The line of furniture provided ...
The Personal Workplace - New System of Office Furniture 1988 to 1990

Zeeland, MI, U.S.A.

Office Furniture, Designed , Two personal offices with furniture prototypes built by C.E.S.

Client:

Herman Miller, Inc. - Rob Harvey, Vice President

C.E.S. staff:

Christopher Alexander, Artemis Anninou, Gary Black

Design and construction process:

Theree design principles guided the development of the project: 1) Layout of the personal work space by their users in order to meet their own personal needs; this process is achievable through the use of a computer program developed at C.E.S. which carries a worker through the design process. 2) Use of flexible manufacturing techniques, which allow individualisation of each piece of furniture, without increasing costs; the purpose of this feature is to eliminate the modularity that is part and parcel of current systems. 3) The basis of design is the real human needs and desires, not on the latest trend.

Project stages:

Generic rules for office layout process Use of full scale mock-ups Fabrication of full size furniture prototypes and office rooms by C.E.S. Design Development drawings done after fabrication

Herman Miller, the second largest manufacturer of office furniture in the United States, commissioned C.E.S. to develop the "personal workplace", a new system of furniture, which aimed at changing the nature of the American workplace completely. The emphasis was on ...

Contents

Drawings

Haworth New Office Furniture System: Rolling Side Table / Herman Miller New Office Furniture System: Rolling Table - Preliminary Design Drawings 01/05/1985

Preliminary Design, Perspective, Elevation, Details

Designers:

Christopher Alexander, Artemis Anninou, Berkeley, CA, U.S.A.

Medium:

Original on Paper

Size:

8 1/2"x11"

Three pages with pen dimensioned the initial perspective sketches and details, and two pages of pencil hardline preliminary elevations .
Haworth New Office Furniture System: Rolling Side Table / Herman Miller New Office Furniture System: Rolling Table - Design Development Drawings 01/05/1986

Design Development, Axonometric, Plan, Section, Elevation

Designers:

Christopher Alexander, Artemis Anninou, Gary Black, Berkeley, CA, U.S.A.

Medium:

Original on Vellum

Size:

8 1/2"x11"

Scale:

1 1/2"=1', 3/4"=1"

Three sheets of ink hardline construction drawings of the rolling side table; includes axonometric, elevations, sections and details with dimensions.

Photographs

Haworth New Office Furniture System: Rolling Side Table / Herman Miller New Office Furniture System: Rolling Table - Photographs 01/01/1985

Finalized Piece of Office Furniture

Photographer:

Mark Darley/Esto, Berkeley, CA, U.S.A.

Source:

Digital, Slide

Characteristics:

Color

Professional photographs of fully functioning prototype piece of office furniture.
Haworth New Office Furniture System: Rolling Side Table / Herman Miller New Office Furniture System: Rolling Table - Photographs of mock-up 01/01/1985

Mock-up

Photographer:

Artemis Anninou/C.E.S., Berkeley, CA, U.S.A.

Source:

Slide

Characteristics:

Color

Three photographs of two different functioning full scale mock-ups for testing proportions, dimensions and functioning of the Rolling Side Table, before building it out of black lucite. The first mock-up is built out cardboard and the second out of pine ...
Haworth New Office Furniture System: Rolling Side Table / Herman Miller New Office Furniture System: Rolling Table - Photographs 01/01/1985

Finalized Piece of Office Furniture

Photographer:

Dennis Anderson, Berkeley, CA, U.S.A.

Source:

Negative

Characteristics:

4"x5", Color

Professional photograph of fully functioning prototype piece of office furniture.
Haworth New Office Furniture System: Flat-topped Desk with Rolling Cabinet with Drawers next to it, and Upright Desk with the Rolling Side Table - Photographs 01/01/1986

Finalized Piece of Office Furniture

Photographer:

Mark Darley/Esto, Martinez, CA, U.S.A.

Source:

Negative

Characteristics:

3 7/8"x4 7/8", Color

Two professional photographs of fully functioning prototype pieces of office furniture in use.

SEE ALL Photographs

References

Articles

Toward a Personal Workplace: Portfolio of Interiors and a New System of Office Furniture 15/09/1987

Publication, Article

Authors:

Christopher Alexander, Artemis Anninou, Gary Black, John Rheinfrank

Published in:

Architectural Record, No. 1501, pp. 130-141

Publisher:

McGraw Hill Inc., New York, NY, U.S.A.