Click on image to zoom Designers: Bill Stumpf and Don ChadwickWhen Bill Stumpf and Don Chadwick designed the Herman Miller Aeron Chair, they combined a deep knowledge of human-centered design with never-before-seen technology to create a task chair unlike any other. Now Aeron has been remastered in practically every way to create an office chair that better supports people and the types of work we do today. Configure Your Aeron Chair Add to Wish List While its iconic form has remained largely unchanged, the Aeron Chair has been remastered from the casters up. With the help of Don Chadwick, the chair’s original co-designer, we updated Aeron to incorporate more than 20 years of research on the science of sitting, as well as advancements in materials, manufacturing, and technology. “It’s going to be a whole new experience, and yet the chair is still going to be an Aeron chair.” Get into the Zones Across Aeron's 8Z Pellicle elastomeric suspension seat and backrest, eight latitudinal zones of varying tension envelop you as you sit, delivering greater comfort and ergonomic support.
The new 8Z Pellicle also allows body heat to pass through to help maintain an even and comfortable skin temperature. A Stance Worth Backing An active body is at its strongest when standing, chest open and pelvis tilted slightly forward. PostureFit SL supports your spine to give you the same benefit while seated. Adjustable, individual pads provide lumbar support and stabilize the base of the spine for a more powerful seated posture. If You're So Reclined Sitting in one position reduces the natural pumping action of the muscles that deliver nutrients to the spine. As you sit in Aeron, however, the tilt allows the chair to move seamlessly with your body, so shifting between forward and reclining postures is smooth and balanced throughout the entire range of recline. A Whole New Aeron Aeron is available in three tightly curated, holistic material expressions. Graphite is the darkest, a modern rendition of the classic Aeron look. Carbon offers a balanced neutral for a modern chair that works equally well in both warm and cool environments.
Mineral is the lightest, with a fresh, ethereal quality that borders on translucence. One Size Does Not Fit All With chairs, one size does not fit all people. Based on an ends-to-the-middle design approach, Aeron comes in three sizes (A, B, and C) to provide an inclusive fit that delivers the same level of comfort to the largest range of anthropometric body types of any office chair. For individuals sitting in Aeron, cross-performance design means the ergonomic chair fully accommodates the widest possible range of activities and postures people adopt while working, from intense, forward-facing focus to relaxed, contemplative recline. The Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman have their origin in Charles and Ray’s investigations into molding plywood and a desire to improve upon a familiar fixture in many living rooms: the lounge chair. Today, these pieces not only live in museums, but continue to offer comfort and style to interiors everywhere. Own a True Icon of Modern DesignWhen the set was introduced in 1956, there was nothing like it, and there is still nothing to equal it.
The Eameses’ modern take on a 19th century club chair has not only endured for more than 50 years, it has become one of the most significant furniture designs of the 20th century—instantly recognizable and enduringly fresh. Expansive OptionsThe Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman has become so recognizable that its configuration is a registered trademark. You can also choose the standard, high-performance lacquered plywood shell in all four wood veneers. To provide additional choices for complementing a range of interiors, the chair and ottoman are offered in all-black and all-white versions. The all-black version features an ebony veneer shell and black MCL Leather. For the all-white version, a white ash shell complements pearl MCL Leather. The metal components of the white ash chair are finished in white to highlight the polished aluminum accents on the base. Luxurious Comfort and SupportThe comfort and support built into the Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman help explain their enduring popularity.
My office-furniture nemesis, the famous Aeron chair from Herman Miller I hate my Aeron chair. In fact, I hate it so much that I don’t have it anymore. I wheeled it into a conference room a while back and abandoned it. In its place is a brand-free, standard uphostery seat orphaned from before our office redesign. My new-old chair has pokey wheels and mysterious stains and the faint whiff of other people’s butts.So long as it’s not an Aeron. The Aeron came with the aforementioned corporate redesign, which turned the gloomy, grotty corridors of TIME into a glaringly well-lighted, somehow soulless space. Don’t get me wrong. I wasn’t one of the many who squawked when they separated us from our tea-stained desks and paperclip sculptures. In general I prefer our newly poshified workspace, if only because we no longer need night goggles to find the bathroom. It’s true I desperately miss my tweedy old couch, but the new glass doors would have made naps tricky anyway.
The Aeron was the first thing I saw walking into my new office. At first, I was dazzled by the work of art that is this most famous of office chairs (seriously, how many can you name by brand?). Its design is smooth yet innovative, its materials practical yet handsome. Sure, the Aeron defined the ’90s, but newsrooms aren’t known for cutting-edge cool. By our standards, it bespoke hip. I sat down and took a spin. Seat: bouncy yet firm. Back: firm lumbar support. Mobility: wheels all move in same direction. I loved my Aeron. Office furniture is at its best when it doesn’t require much contemplation. You want a stapler that staples, not one that states by its color and shape the very essence of your personality (unless, of course, you do). But soon I was thinking way too much about my Aeron–or rather about the throbbing pain in the backs of my thighs. I’d heard the Aeron, or rather Herman Miller, its design company, prides itself on the chair’s easy adjustability.
But hours of twisting and pounding and kicking the various knobs and levers resulted in absolutely no adjustment–not in its tilt, its armrests, its now-annoying lumbar. It turns out the Aeron has a hate club. My colleague Unmesh had the same unprintable comments about the pain in his thighs, apparently caused by the hard frame with what’s called a waterfall edge. My brother George, a bond broker, says the mesh material I’d earlier thought so practical tears his pants. “The Aeron Chair Sucks” features hilarious videos of a worker’s battles with hers. To be fair, the dozens of heated comments on that site prove the Aeron still has a lot of defenders, too. It is at this point in my rant that I realize I am going to have to make like a reporter and actually do some reporting. Designers Don Chadwick and Bill Stumpf first introduced the Aeron to the world in 1994. Dot-com bajillionaires stocked their new offices with the $600-$900 chairs. It was named design of the decade by the Industrial Designers Society of America, and remains Herman Miller’s best-selling chair.
Stumpf died in September. So I called Herman Miller to share my misgivings with the very patient company spokesperson, Mark Schurman. When I began my rant about my thighs, he immediately asked, “Do you think it’s properly sized?” The Aeron apparently comes in three sizes befitting various body types. As far as I know, my chair is the same as my sumo-size brother’s. When I mentioned that same brother and his complaint about the mesh material (which is called Pellicle) ripping his pants, Schurman was again a step ahead of me. Chuckling, he said, “Well, we hear that very occasionally–always from men of a certain size wearing chinos with large wallets in their pockets.” Okay, so he nailed George–but doesn’t that description also fit a lot of other men? True, says Schurman, adding that newer versions of the Pellicle weave are softer and more pliant. Then there’s the adjustability, or impossibility thereof. Here Schurman dances a bit. “I wouldn’t say we’ve ever promoted its ease of adjustability, but rather the ability to finely tune it to your individual need,” he says.