Herman Miller New Office Furniture System: Flat files

1988

Work of Art for Project, Office Furniture Prototype

Unique system of flat files, for easily visible storage of files, papers, manuscripts, and other flat items. All open for easily inspection. Enamelled or lacquered wood. It is a more developed version of the Mucic Cabinet piece of furniture built by Christopher Alexander in 1981. Functioning prototype was included in the 12 feet by 18 feet office interiors for one person, constructed by C.E.S.

Created by:

Christopher Alexander

Content of

Project

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

Records

Herman Miller Furniture Systems: System 2000 01/01/1988

Design Matters, Notes & Sketches

Authors:

Christopher Alexander, Artemis Anninou, Gary Black, Center for Environmental Structure, Berkeley, CA, U.S.A.

8-page preliminary list of office furniture prototypes built by C.E.S. for the Herman Miller project; includes color photos, description, variations, dimensions, and pricing for the following: Manager’s Desk, Executive Desk, Low Bookcase with Drawers, High Bookcase with Flat Files, Japanese ...

Photographs

Herman Miller New Office Furniture System: Flat Files - Photographs 01/01/1988

Finalized Piece of Office Furniture

Photographer:

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

Source:

Digital, Slide

Characteristics:

Color

Two photographs of fully functioning prototype piece of office furniture.

References

Scientific Research

Wholeness and Feeling in Structure-Enhancing Transformations

Areas of focus:

Design and Building Process

Guiding idea:

Feeling as the Core of the Process

Christopher Alexander formulated this principle as follows: In any living process, or any process of design or making, the way forward, the next step which is most structure-enhancing, is that step which most intensifies the feeling of the emerging whole. "Feeling" ...

Books

The Nature of Order - An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe. Book Two - The Process of Creating Life 2002

Authors:

Christopher Alexander

Publisher:

The Center for Environmental Structure Publishing, Berkeley, CA, U.S.A.

No of pages:

636 pp

“The Process of Creating Life”, the second volume of “The Nature of Order” series presents a dynamic theory of living structure. It begins with an analysis of transformations, which occur in nature, and the distinction between structure-preserving transformations, responsible for ...

Book Chapters

Chapter 14. Deep Feeling, 8 / Designing a Music Cabinet

Publication,

Book title:

The Nature of Order – An Essay on the Art of Building and the Nature of the Universe.
Book Two – The Process of Creating Life

Pages:

384-387

Reports

Herman Miller Furniture Systems: The Personal Workplace - A System of Office Furniture Designed for Comfort: Vol 2. Catalog - The New Line of Furniture 01/01/1988

Project, Project Report

Authors:

Christopher Alexander, Artemis Anninou, Gary Black, Center for Environmental Structure, Berkeley, CA, U.S.A.

33-page document, which includes an Introduction, list of the twenty nine items of furniture available with descriptions for each one. The items of furniture are chosen with the intension to allow the user to find a way in which he/she ...

Photographs

Herman Miller New Office Furniture System: Photographs of building interior 01/01/1988

Project, Interior View

Photographer:

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

Source:

Digital, Print, Slide

Characteristics:

8 1/2"x11", 6"x8" , Color

Seven views of the second office interior for one person, built by the Center for Environmental Structure as a prototype office. It includes prototype pieces and mock-ups from the new office furniture system. The first photo was exhibited at the Locus ...