Designer
Gilbert Rohde
Gilbert Rohde was a self-taught industrial designer from the Bronx. After work in fashion and department-store illustration, his own studies and a visit to the Bauhaus led him toward modern furniture. He met Herman Miller founder D.J. De…
Biography
Background
Gilbert Rohde was a self-taught industrial designer from the Bronx. After work in fashion and department-store illustration, his own studies and a visit to the Bauhaus led him toward modern furniture. He met Herman Miller founder D.J. De Pree in 1930 and proposed designs suited to modern life. Their agreement combined a consultation fee with a share of future sales, which Herman Miller identifies as the furniture industry's first royalty contract.
Signature Style
Rohde designed for changing domestic life, smaller spaces, and city residents. He argued for function, simplicity, and furniture centred on the people who used it.
Notable Works
For Herman Miller, his surviving catalogue includes the Rohde Easy Chair and Rohde Paldao Table.
Legacy
As Herman Miller's first design director, he changed products, manufacturing, catalogues, and showrooms, and established the outside-designer role later expanded by George Nelson.