What comes to mind when we think of sustainability in action? Is it in manufacturing, proximity, materiality, or a combination of the three? In terms of holistic design, every part of the process must be considered with tact, understanding the nuances of the world we exist within. Almost synonymous with the term ‘office chair’, the Aeron Chair from Herman Miller has been a symbol of peak American office design, long regarded as a well-earned gift for a job well done.
A stately way to take the load off of desk worker’s long-suffering backs, each metric on the Aeron Chair can be customized to fit your exact specifications, creating less strain on the body and therefore on the mind as well. Coming in four standardized sizes, each piece is designed with the human body in mind, creating a more harmonious relationship with the tasks at hand.
In this newer iteration, not only are there new colors to choose from, but systemic upgrades as well. Since 2022, Herman Miller has achieved carbon savings of over 7,000 metric tons, equivalent to taking nearly 6,000 cars off the road for a year. With no compromise on durability or performance, the Herman Miller team also reduced the material in Aeron’s aluminum base by 1.85lbs/0.84 kg. At scale, this translates to enough aluminum saved annually to exceed the weight of 16 adult elephants. These equivalencies clearly demonstrate how small changes can meaningfully reduce impact. Even stronger, they can back these numbers up with third-party studies, an inspiring turn toward transparency in a time of increased obfuscation.
In keeping with the values that spur the type of innovation Herman Miller is known for, they invest heavily in the type of information gathering that is not only good for them internally, but good for all of us here on earth. The more we can understand distinct parts of the product cycle, the more we can make powerful and impactful decisions that will eventually shape our future. When a design is so ubiquitous, born of ergonomic ingenuity and meticulously designed, it begs the question: could improvements be made upon a system that inherently changes slowly? With the Aeron Chair, the answer has to be yes.
To learn more about Aeron from Herman Miller, visit hermanmiller.com.
Photography by Pippa Drummond, courtesy of Herman Miller.
