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Herman Miller Eames Left-Hand Desk by Charles and Ray Eames
Introduced in 1952, the Eames Desk Units helped establish an exciting new residential furniture look. It's also at home in the contemporary office. The desk complements Eames Storage Units, or it can stand alone.
Fit the need. Desks can have the drawer on the right or right side.
Fit the decor. Each configuration is offered in two color schemes: neutral or vibrant. More information on the color schemes is available in the FAQ section below.
Birch veneer. Tops and file fronts have a clear finish; shelves have a black stain.
Strong and durable. Uprights, cross-supports, and perforated panels are zinc-coated steel; drawer fronts and shelves are smooth plywood; side panels are painted hardboard.
Easy on floors. Feet have nylon glides.
Desks and storage units have always presented a design challenge. For serious designers, who expect to make beautiful things as well as useful things, creating something as traditional and explicitly utilitarian as a desk or storage unit can seem like a chore. But Herman Miller has made their reputation on designs and designers that not only achieve that unity of purpose, but see it as one of their principle callings in the design industry. The intermingling of design aesthetic and design functionality is a keystone of the Herman Miller sensibility, from Noguchi to Bill Stumpf and Jeff Weber. So, for the right blend of utility and beauty, Herman Miller knew just where to go: The work of Charles and Ray Eames.
Imagine a desk that's functional and attractive, with modern stylization and classical deportment. Imagine a desk with vibrant, eye-catching color that blends well with most any environment. A desk that works equally well as a work station, a piece of art, and a focal point of any room. This is the Herman Miller Eames Desk. Now imagine a cabinet to go with this desk; a storage cabinet with all the same qualities, the same mixture of aesthetic brilliance and functional efficacy and grace; this is the companion piece, the Eames Storage Unit. Together or apart, the constitute one of the most impressive home office collections in all of American design.
The Eames Desk is first and foremost a work desk. It was designed to be functional and helpful at all times, not merely as a piece of sculpture or modernist art. And indeed, the desk has stood for decades as much more than a simple piece of art, with sales all over the world continuing unabated since it was debuted in 1952. The flat plane of the desk top is large and squared, traditional in nearly every respect. In part, that’s because in the world of Charles and Ray Eames, one never saw the top of the desk; it was too stacked with work, plans, ideas, grandchildren, and books. The drawer on the side of the desk (you can order either a left handed or right handed drawer - the benefits of mass production at work) is large and non-compartmentalized. It can hold anything from models to papers to toys or computer parts. The openness of the drawer shuns the contemporary obsession with perfect compartments that often limit space and usability. There is also space above the drawer for more storage (between the top of the drawer and the bottom of the desk), but it's unstructured as well. If you wish, nothing but air can fill the space between the two. The utility of the desk is simple, classic, and sound.
Of course, that isn't to take anything away from the beauty of the desk, which is ample. The Eameses were some of the first American designers to focus on mass production, specifically, making the mass production of fine furniture easier on companies and easier on the pocketbook of the general public. The Eames Desk is a sterling example of this kind of machine-produced design aesthetic. It's a series of parts, all of them separate (different colors, different materials, different purposes, etc.) but all working together to form a harmonious whole. The brightly colored panels of the desk (which can also be ordered in neutral tones) work as playful counterpoints to the more traditional beechwood accents and metallic support systems that go into the desk. There is a series of wires that criss-between the metallic legs of the desk at irregular angles. The effect is symmetrical when viewed head on, and very pleasing to the eye; it gives the impression that the desk is being held together, as if it may burst from the energy of the panels, materials, color and work. The angles draw the attention of the viewer, but they are a design thrill in keeping with the aesthetic whole rather than a distraction or misstep.
The look of the desk is cheery but professional, robust and energetic. It wears the influence of Japanese architecture and modernism proudly and winningly. The Eameses were great champions of a sense of play; they liked playing with forms in ways that resembled tinker-toys, jigsaw puzzles, and blocks. While very sophisticated, the designs they came up with often captured a joyful attitude (for instance, the way they designed the windows and walls of their personal home was very similar to the way the panels and lines of the Eames Desk are utilized) toward work, play, and living. The desk is an obvious addition to their canon of energetic, bright, and original design ideas. But it is also a very functional work space.
Elements of Function The desk, defined in very general terms, includes a flat plane workspace and a large attached drawer. It also features extra, open storage space on top of the drawer, between it and the top of the desk. The features are simple but effective, and when combined with the overall design aesthetic, produce the feeling of a re-invented or re-imagined classic.
This is a modern desk only in it's sense of aesthetic design. In form and function, it is classic, marrying a kind of linear austerity to an essentialist philosophy. There is one work surface, one drawer, one extra storage space, one place for a chair. It's singular, but useful, and beguiling in it's simplicity and elegance.
The desk will fit comfortably in most office spaces, including home office space. It's 5 feet wide and 28 inches deep, and it rises 29 inches above the floor. The desk on the left or right hand side (according to your personal preference) rises 16 and 1/4 inches above the floor. In all, while it isn't a "compact" desk, neither is it an expansive one. It's impressive nature comes from it's design and it's aesthetic, as well as it's history, not from a brute impression of size.
There are few desks on the market as efficient and basically functional as the Eames Desk. And there are certainly almost none with the heady mixture of joy, beauty, and utility that this desk brings to the table. Smart Furniture is proud to offer the Eames Desk to our customers, as well as the complimentary Eames Storage Unit.
because in the world of Charles and Ray Eames, one never saw the top of the desk; it was too stacked with work, plans, ideas, grandchildren, and books. The drawer on the side of the desk (you can order either a left handed or right handed drawer - the benefits of mass production at work) is large and non-compartmentalized. It can hold anything from models to papers to toys or computer parts. The openness of the drawer shuns the contemporary obsession with perfect compartments that often limit space and usability. There is also space above the drawer for more storage (between the top of the drawer and the bottom of the desk), but it's unstructured as well. If you wish, nothing but air can fill the space between the two. The utility of the desk is simple, classic, and sound.
Of course, that isn't to take anything away from the beauty of the desk, which is ample. The Eameses were some of the first American designers to focus on mass production, specifically, making the mass production of fine furniture easier on companies and easier on the pocketbook of the general public. The Eames Desk is a sterling example of this kind of machine-produced design aesthetic. It's a series of parts, all of them separate (different colors, different materials, different purposes, etc.) but all working together to form a harmonious whole. The brightly colored panels of the desk (which can also be ordered in neutral tones) work as playful counterpoints to the more traditional beechwood accents and metallic support systems that go into the desk. There is a series of wires that criss-between the metallic legs of the desk at irregular angles. The effect is symmetrical when viewed head on, and very pleasing to the eye; it gives the impression that the desk is being held together, as if it may burst from the energy of the panels, materials, color and work. The angles draw the attention of the viewer, but they are a design thrill in keeping with the aesthetic whole rather than a distraction or misstep.
The look of the desk is cheery but professional, robust and energetic. It wears the influence of Japanese architecture and modernism proudly and winningly. The Eameses were great champions of a sense of play; they liked playing with forms in ways that resembled tinker-toys, jigsaw puzzles, and blocks. While very sophisticated, the designs they came up with often captured a joyful attitude (for instance, the way they designed the windows and walls of their personal home was very similar to the way the panels and lines of the Eames Desk are utilized) toward work, play, and living. The desk is an obvious addition to their canon of energetic, bright, and original design ideas. But it is also a very functional work space.
Charles and Ray Eames Charles and Ray Eames are the two most important industrial designers of the 20th century. This may sound like a challenging assertion, but you'll be hard pressed to find any expert that would disagree. Their work in fields as varied as furniture, movies, education, architecture and mathematics also qualifies them as some of the most versatile design and media teams that ever worked.
Charles and Ray brought their own high energy and sense of rigorous play to the work they did, the designs they created together. In their minds, while the style of the design was very important, the first principle was always to fulfill the need. For the Eames Desk and Eames Storage Unit, the first principle was storage, work, and a unified room system for the home or corporate office. It's plain that they succeeded in their task; these pieces of furniture have been around for more than half a century.
Herman Miller is very proud to be the distributor of the Eames catalogue, including their chairs, cabinets, table and furniture of all kinds. And Smart Furniture is very proud to offer our customers some of the very best designs from that same catalogue. Beautifully designed, beautifully made; that's Charles and Ray, and that's Herman Miller.
In 1949, the prototypes for what would become the Eames Desk were laid out at the Detroit Institute of Arts. Charles and Ray Eames had set out to make furniture that had a place in the evolving, modern world. They wanted furniture that could fit in all kinds of spaces, that was unique, but not singular or individual. They wanted to produce a desk that could be easily re-produced with machine techniques, sold everywhere and to anyone, but that was at the same time beautiful, well-made, and sturdy. The result was the Herman Miller Eames Desk.
Prior to the debut of the desk (which was not officially until 1950), there was no other desk like it, save the small, cramped desks of schoolchildren. There was a vast separation between furniture created by designers and bought by collectors and the wealthy, and the cheap, often flimsy furniture created for offices and schools. The desk sought to close that gap by marrying modern (for 1949-50) mass production methods and high-brow, gorgeously designed forms. The brightly colored panels, the creative energy and relatively light, modern materials created in the desk a sense of play and beauty that pointed undeniably to creative influence and energy. But they also made the desk easy to reproduce and sell to the mass audience in need of effective workspace, and deserving of aesthetic grace.
The design of the desk is very simple, and intentionally so. The style is simple as well, but it's very rich - vibrant and meaningful.
One hallmark of the Office of Charles and Ray Eames was enthusiasm. Another was an energetic, even frenetic working pace. The pair, along with numerous assistants and fellow designers, worked tirelessly exploring their ideas about design, furniture, art, movies, school, and even mathematics. Their exhibits and furniture were legendary not only for their excellence, but for how much fun they were. The same goes for the Eames Desk. It wasn't only excellent for working, it wasn't just good for storage and order; it was fun, it was playful, it was energetic. Just like its creators. The sense of play came not only from the vibrant color (the desk is also available in neutral tones, grey and beige and beech) but also from the materials, and the unexpected forms they took. The criss-crossing wires that string together the legs of the desk add an interesting dynamic, and they can even seem to be holding the desk together; holding in check the bursting sense of play. There is also space in the desk; it isn't a heavy, domineering piece of office furniture, but rather merely a part of the environment. There is space between the top of the drawer and the bottom of the top of the desk, and there is ample, transparent space underneath the plane of the workspace. It's purpose is not to set apart or obfuscate, but to be collaborative with the environment.
It seems entirely possible that the design of the desk, the stylization of it, could add to your productivity; how could it not, as excited as it seems to be to get to work, to work as if it were no task, but instead a joy. This was the Eames' experience of work in their studios and offices, and you can see how they've tried to communicate their unique, healthy attitude to this remarkable piece of furniture.
So how is it made? What are the parts, and how does the design work as a desk, and not only as a stylish piece of art?
The materials in the chair are simple, and easily reproducible, as was the intention of the designers. The panels come in a range of colors, from blue and white and red and yellow to beige, grey, and beech. The legs are metallic, and the wires that criss-cross the desk are zinc coated. There are nylon glides on the bottom of the desk so your floor will be safe.
The Herman Miller Eames Desk can be quckly produced, built and taken down. It's one of the earliest and greatest examples of modular, mass-produced furniture that was neither flimsy nor devoid of style. In a post-war America, affluent and ready to move to the suburbs and corner offices, this was an item available to all classes and businesses, and equally radical progressive for both. It's one of the most impressive designs in the entire Eames catalogue, as well as one of the most enduring and useful.
Herman Miller is an industry leader in the integration of cutting edge technology to furniture and other household items to make everyday life more comfortable, convenient, and stylish. Herman Miller stands out at the forefront of such fields as ergonomic technologies, environmentally friendly manufacturing processes, and customizable furniture items.
In addition to producing some of the most outstanding office furniture in the world, Herman Miller has also taken on the responsibility of manufacturing some of the most celebrated furniture designs by some of the world's most famous designs. These "modern classics" include works by Charles and Ray Eames, George Nelson, and Isamu Noguchi. Herman Miller celebrates these famous mid-century designers' works through its extraordinarily precise manufacturing techniques and industry-leading green production processes.
Herman Miller is a global company with operations, sales offices, dealers, and licensees in more than 40 countries in North America, Asia/Pacific, Europe, Middle East, Africa, and Latin America, serving customers virtually anywhere in the world. Herman Miller is headquartered in Zeeland, Michigan, while manufacturing facilities are located in the U.S., China, Italy, and the United Kingdom.
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Service includes delivery of high value, large, extremely heavy and or extremely fragile items. Delivery is made to your room of choice and includes unpacking, 15-30 minutes of light assembly and debris removal. Deliveries are generally made within 3-10 days from the time your order ships, and occur Monday through Friday. After hours and weekend deliveries can also be arranged upon request. Day and time specific delivery appointments are required, and someone must be present to receive the order.
Q: What are the color schemes? The Eames Desk is available in vibrant or neutral. Vibrant has red, white, and blue side panels, and neutral has black and white side panels. Both vibrant and neutral have a natural plywood desk surface and file cabinet drawer front.
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