July 7, 2004—Herman Miller, Inc., provider of office furnishings, workplace consulting, and related services, has just announced that its Mirra work chair earned a “Silver” in the 2004 Industrial Design Excellence Awards (IDEA), a prestigious international competition presented by the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) and sponsored by BusinessWeek magazine.
The Mirra chair, which has achieved significant market acceptance and continues to be recognized for its innovativeness, is a high-performing, environmentally advanced work chair designed to provide a new reference point for ergonomic comfort, performance, aesthetics, sustainability, and value. Its unique blend of passive and active adjustments allows Mirra to automatically shape itself to each user; a few simple adjustments fine-tune the fit and feel. The chair’s next-generation innovations, including a new optional upholstered backrest, all work together in a fresh-looking chair that is easy to use, says the company. Herman Miller teamed with German design firm Studio 7.5 to create Mirra.
Mirra is among 130 award winners cited by a juried panel as among the year’s best, most exciting product designs. The annual competition, which this year received 1,294 entries, includes everything from small desk accessories to giant mechanical equipment. For the first time the competition was open to all international entries, which resulted in 345 submissions from 25 countries. Thirty-three designs from 14 countries outside the US earned awards.
Herman Miller has received numerous IDEA Awards over the years, including a Gold Award for the Resolve office system in 2000, and Silver honors for the Aeron chair in 1995. In 1999, the Aeron chair was awarded the coveted Design of the Decade Gold Award, which is also sponsored by IDSA and BusinessWeek. In addition, Aeron co-designer and longtime Herman Miller associate Bill Stumpf received the IDSA’s Personal Recognition Award in 2001.
The complete IDEA Awards report, including an in-depth analysis of the winning entries, appears in BusinessWeek editions on newsstands July 5. The IDSA monthly newsletter, Design Perspectives, also will have a wrap-up in its July 2004 issue. Detailed descriptions and photos of all 130 award-winners are featured on the IDSA Web site.
