Gilbert Rohde

It was 1930, and Gilbert Rohde had a problem: he was full of fresh new ideas about furniture design but he couldn't convince any of the traditional manufacturers to take them on. Then he met D. J. DePree. DePree also had a problem: his company, Herman Miller, needed a major shot in the arm if it was going to survive.

Rohde told DePree that his new ideas made sense for the changing times and for the growing number of people who were living in apartments and smaller houses. 'This calls for a different kind of furniture,' he said.

Could Rohde design such furniture, DePree asked? Yes. Would he design such furniture for Herman Miller? Yes.

A deal was struck, and thus began a relationship that would lead Herman Miller into an exciting and challenging new era. 'You're not making furniture anymore,' Rohde told DePree. 'You're providing a way of life.'

Disdaining ornamentation that often covered up shoddy workmanship, Rohde espoused clean, simple, honest designs. To accommodate smaller living spaces, he created furniture with dual purposes: a card table that turned into a dining table, a settee that folded back into a bed, tables ('rotorettes') that housed books and other items on rotating shelves. He loved this idea of interchangeability, demonstrated most notably in his Living-Dining Group - individual pieces that could go in either place and a radical departure from the standard living or dining room 'suites' purchased at the time.
And with the introduction of Rohde's Executive Office Group, the company entered the office furniture market.

Rohde's groundbreaking designs, however, were not an easy sell to mainstream retailers unschooled in the new design concepts. Their lack of understanding led to another of Rohde's revolutionary ideas: the manufacturer's showroom, which he transformed into a centre where knowledgeable representatives could talk about furniture they understood and appreciated.

A true innovator and pioneer, Gilbert Rohde set the stage for those who followed him at Herman Miller in the 40s and 50s, including George Nelson and Charles and Ray Eames. It was Rohde who took Herman Miller into the world of modern design.