Environment
Documents
Certifications
- GREENGUARD IAC
- GREENGUARD CSC
What's In It For You
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Product Story
You know it at first glance - it's an Eames design. Timeless, sophisticated, refined. The lithe Aluminium Group chair bears the distinctive stamp of Charles and Ray Eames, the most famous design couple in the world. This graceful silhouette sits equally well in retro interiors, elegant lobbies, or hip young offices. Add executive, management, side, and lounge models, and there's everything you need for a statement of enduring design excellence.
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Timeless Elegance
It's uncanny. A chair designed in 1958 as outdoor seating still manages to look both classic and contemporary in 21st century interiors. The chairs' clean, trim lines make them appropriate for all kinds of places, from classic and contemporary homes to elegant offices to hip startups.
Aluminium Group, also upholstered in traditional fabric or leather, is ribbed at 1 7/8-inch intervals for a clean, refined appearance. The Cygnus mesh option has a lighter-scaled, translucent quality.
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Innovative Comfort
Never ones to favor style over substance, Charles and Ray Eames gave this chair an innovative suspension that creates a firm, flexible "sitting pocket" that conforms subtly to the body's shape. They created that suspension by stretching a continuous piece of seat-back upholstery tautly between lightweight aluminium side ribs.
Executive and management models come with seat-height and tilt-swivel adjustments; pneumatic lift and tilt lock are available as options.
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Multiple Options
Aluminium Group seat pads have layered construction with fabric or leather upholstery. Cygnus mesh is a self-contouring, flexing material available on Aluminum Group chairs to provide aeration, even weight distribution, and long-term comfort; Cygnus was specifically designed for Eames Aluminium Group as an elegant option
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Durability
With one-piece, curved aluminium side ribs and a five-star, die-cast aluminum base, the chair is strong, yet lightweight and easy to move.
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Earth-Friendly
Aluminium Group chairs are made of 67% recycled materials and are 90% recyclable at the end of their useful life.
Design Story
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Aluminium Group chairs began as a challenge among legendary designers. Eero Saarinen and Alexander Girard were designing the Columbus, Indiana, home of J. Irwin Miller, founder of Cummins Engines. They wanted a high-quality seating product for outdoor use and asked Charles and Ray Eames to develop one.
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Known for their honest use of materials, the Eameses constructed their chairs with cast aluminium and a seat frame meant to support a stretched synthetic mesh. The seat-back suspension was a major technical achievement and represented a departure from the concept of the chair as a solid shell.
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Herman Miller began making the Aluminium Group chairs in 1958, and they have been in continuous demand ever since. The original mesh meant for outdoor use was discontinued shortly after its introduction. In 1969, the Eameses extended the original design by adding plush, individually upholstered cushions. They named these the Soft Pad chairs. In 2001, we introduced a new mesh material for the Aluminium Group called Cygnus, similar to the Aeron chair's Pellicle fabric in its aeration and translucent qualities.
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The chairs' simple lines, innovative use of materials, and suspension comfort have kept the Aluminium Group and Soft Pad chairs among the most popular seating choices for both offices and homes for over 50 years.