Thank you to everyone who joined us yesterday at REACH. We had a spectacular turn out for the event with the auditorium overflowing to hear from design greats including Don Chadwick, Steve Frykholm, Phunk Studios and Eames Demetrios. Their diverse lectures kept the crowd engaged, amused and fascinated. The crowds then toured our gorgeous Retreat zone, designed by the multi-talented Phunk Studios and were given the very rare opportunity to be taken on a guided tour of Essential Eames by Eames Demetrios: grandson of the legendary design couple. The excitement was palpable as teams from Australia, India, Singapore, Hong Kong, China, Indonesia, Japan and Thailand lined up to start the inaugural Pan Asia Pacific Aeron Hockey Championships. Every match was hard fought with the team members really battling for every point. In the end the Australian team were victorious and take home the honour and glory of being crowned the best in the region! Congratulations to India who played hard and came in as runners up and also to Indonesia for coming in third. The crowds of spectators lived every point with the teams and we have had requests for more Aeron Hockey tournaments so watch this space.

For those of you living in Hong Kong, don't forget, Essential Eames is free and open to the public from 10am - 5pm until December 2nd (closed Tuesdays). Don't miss your chance to view this fascinating and inspiring exhibition.

Below are a few of our favourite snapshots from the day, check out our facebook page for more highlights.

(above) The Essential Eames exhibition official opening by the Charles and Ray's grandson, Eames Demetrious

(above) Steve Frykholm and (below) Don Chadwick enthrall the crowd at REACH

(Below) Aeron Hockey action at the first ever Pan Asia Pacific Championships

The Thailand Aeron Hockey finals are over - check out our interview with the winning team who'll be representing their country at the championships, along with some fabulous photos taken on the day.

Tell us, what made you enter the championships?
We were excited about the idea of indoor hockey on our favourite chairs!

How did you choose your fellow team members?  Did anyone get excluded if they didn’t make the grade?
Yes there was fierce competition to get on the team.  Once we formed we played well together and had great team spirit.

Was there a training schedule in place?
Yes, we practice as much as possible after work.

How did you feel when you made it to be the winners of your country?
AWESOME !!  We don’t know how it happened.

What are you doing to prepare for the overall championships in Hong Kong this September?
We are practicing and getting ready for our trip – reading the guide books for Hong Kong!

Have you finalised your team uniform? 
Yes, because our luck depends on our look.

Where will your Eames Lounge & Ottoman go if you win?
Ah, we don’t know yet but it will be very much appreciated.

Finally, what do you think your chances are of being crowned the Kings and Queens of Aeron Hockey for Asia Pacific?
Very good, we are looking forward to seeing you guys.

Regular readers will know that we have been busy preparing for the first exposition of Herman Miller in Asia. REACH Hong Kong is shaping up to be a major design event and the best part is its FREE and open to the public. So if you are in Hong Kong and have an interest in design, we'd love you to join us on Friday 16th September from 9am. Here's what's on:

9am-1pm: Lectures from global leaders in design. Eames Demetrios and Don Chadwick headline these speakers
1pm: Official opening of the first Eames Exhibition in Asia: opened by Eames Demetrios, Director of Eames Office and grandson of Charles and Ray
2pm on: Visit our new Herman Miller for the home exhibiton at Retreat: Designed by Phunk Studio
3pm til 9pm: The first ever Pan Asia Pacific Aeron Hockey Championships. Teams from 9 countries across the region will battle it out for the ultimate prize of an Eames Lounge & Ottoman each!

For more indepth details and venue specifics please click here. Below is a sneak peek of the Essential Eames exhibition, check out our facebook page for more photos.

Congratulations to i-cube, the Japanese team who have made it through to the finals to represent Japan in the first Pan Asia Pacific Aeron Hockey Championships to be held at REACH, in just over one weeks time. 

Tell us, what made you enter the championships?
まず、大会出場の動機は何だったのでしょうか？
体力自慢の会社と代理店の方からご推薦いただき、Eamesのラウンジチェアをゲットすることができそうだと社員全員がその気になったのがきっかけです。
Herman Miller Dealer suggested we should sign up quoting that we are all so physically strong enough to win the Eames lounge chairs. All of us got to believe that we can.

How did you choose your fellow team members?  Did anyone get excluded if they didn’t make the grade?
どのように、チームメンバーを選抜されましたか。途中で戦力外でメンバーをはずれる人はありましたか。
とてもアグレッシブな試合展開になったので、最終的には男子メンバーのみで構成し、バランスよく交代しながら各試合に臨みました。
While winning through, the games got so heated up and we ended up forming only-male team. We also tried to change members game by game.

Was there a training schedule in place?
練習スケジュールは組まれていましたか。
特に行っておりませんが、各試合の選抜フォーメーション、作戦を事前に作成した��果、それらを生かすことなく試合を勝ち抜いてしまいました。
Nothing special. We discussed the strategies to win, ie. Member formation by game, tactics etc but we just won through without counting on our strategies.

How did you feel when you made it to be the winners of your country?
日本のチャンピオンになったときの感想をおきかせください。
試合をこなす毎にチームが強くなり、チームワークが増していきましたので十分戦えると思いましたが、まさか！と思いました。
Every time we play the game, we got stronger and our teamwork got enhanced and we had a good feel about the games but when we last won, it was “Unbelievable”

What are you doing to prepare for the overall championships in Hong Kong this September?
月の香港の試合に向けて何か準備されていることはありますか。
とくにありません。
Nothing special.

Have you finalised your team uniform? 
チームのユニホームは決められましたか。
日本大会で使用した、汗と涙が滲んだものを再度使いたいと思います。
We will wear the uniforms we wore in the Japan Aeron Hockey championship.  The uniforms of our sweat and tears.

Where will your Eames Lounge & Ottoman go if you win?
もし優勝したらイームズラウンジチェア＆オットマンはどこにおかれますか。
場合によっては、東日本大震災の寄付にさせていただくかもしれません。
We will think about it – but we may want to donate them for the disaster relief support of East Japan Tsunami and Earthquake.

Finally, what do you think your chances are of being crowned the Kings and Queens of Aeron Hockey for Asia Pacific?
香港大会での御チームの優勝の勝算についてお聞かせ下さい。
日本大会よりも攻撃に重点を置いたチーム構成にしました。
チームワークと声とで圧倒できれば、優勝の可能性もあると信じております。
We selected the members for HK who are more good for offense.
Our great teamwork and shout may overwhelm the opponents, which will hopefully lead us to victory.

Our final REACH interview is with Don Goeman, Herman Miller's Executive Vice President of Research, Design & Development. During his 30 year career with Herman Miller, Don has brought to life products such as the Aeron and Mirra chairs, the Resolve, My Studio and Vivo Office Systems, and the Leaf Light and has kindly given us a bit of insight into the process behind these iconic designs. Don will be speaking at REACH in Hong Kong this month, click here for more details.

In your career you have brought to life some of the most iconic pieces in the Herman Miller range, including both the Aeron and Mirra chairs. How does it feel to be behind such well-known and revered designs.
For all of us involved in the development process with Herman Miller, we take great pride from the association with the successful projects and designers with whom we’ve worked so hard to develop their ideas.  It feels great to see things you’ve been involved with show up in everyday cultural phenomenon.  Seeing our products as you travel around the globe, or when they appear in movies, TV shows, or other natural life settings; it sort of lightly tugs at your emotions and you remember some of the experiences you went through in their journey to become a commercial reality. 

Herman Miller has recently been listed by Fortune Magazine, as one of the 100 best companies to work for. As a veteran of 30 years experience, what do you enjoy about your work?
The creative exchanges with development teams and designers stand-out for me over the years.  Life often feels like a series of projects, but for Herman  Miller, each one has new challenges and aspirations.  When a whole team is striving to achieve something important, and the creative partner is out-front challenging the status quo, it makes any contributor feel valued when they can respond to a designer’s idea and raise-the-bar on the quality of the outcome.

As well as launching their designs, Herman Miller forms close ties with their designers, with many designing repeatedly for the company. What is it about the Herman Miller process of working with designers and bringing their products to life that fosters these relationships?
Designers seem drawn to the legacy of Herman Miller ‘abandoning’ its own internal instincts of where to lead as a business, and being ‘reverent’ to the counsel and voices of our external creative partners more naturally during the process. That was revolutionary when initiated by DJ DePree (the company’s founder 85 years ago), and even still today is not widely practiced.

REACH will be a major design event for Herman Miller in Hong Kong. What do you hope REACH will bring to the Asia Pacific audience?
Events like REACH always help make the world feel a little smaller.  REACH will help creatives meet other creatives, become more familiar with recent vibes and points-of-view about design, and maybe make new professional bonds that easily over-sail the vast distances from where we came from.  I hope the Asia-Pacific audience will glimpse some cultural trends that are also useful in their own endeavors.

How do you hope to spend some of your time in Hong Kong? Anything you’re particularly looking forward to?
I’m looking forward to the REACH event, the Aeron hockey finale, and meeting more of the local design community.  It's always refreshing to visit China and to feel the youthful energy of this region, freeing itself from more recent creative restraints.

MMoser are our winning Aeron Hockey finalists in Hong Kong. They will be the home-ground favourite team battling it out at the Pan Asia Pacific Aeron Hockey Championships next month at REACH, so they could be the ones to beat. We caught up with them after their winning match.

Tell us, what made you enter the championships?
A visit from the POSH team, and my past experience with the competition in Melbourne Australia.

How did you choose your fellow team members?  Did anyone get excluded if they didn’t make the grade?
The players were the ones that volunteered and who were there on the night.

Was there a training schedule in place?
No

How did you feel when you made it to be the winners of your country?
It was a really fun night – we had a good turn out from our office, and I think winning elevated everyone’s good mood.

What are you doing to prepare for the overall championships in Hong Kong this September?
Training!

Have you finalised your team uniform?
We are doing that but its top secret

Where will your Eames Lounge & Ottoman go if you win?
Not sure, it will be amazing to win one!

Finally, what do you think your chances are of being crowned the Kings and Queens of Aeron Hockey for Asia Pacific?
Quite strong, a couple of members of our team have a lot of ice hockey experience, and the rest are a great support to them.

Congratulations to the victorious New Zealand team Ignite, who will soon be hopping on a plane to Hong Kong for the Pan Asia Pacific Aeron Hockey Championships at REACH.

Tell us, what made you enter the championships?
We entered the competition because of 3 reasons, the great
sounding prizes, the almost unreal chance to play in HK and because ‘office chair hockey’ sounded like a great laugh.

How did you choose your fellow team members?  Did anyone get excluded if they didn’t make the grade?
An office wide email went out looking for anyone who was interested and /or had hockey experience. 

Was there a training schedule in place?
NO!

How did you feel when you made it to be the winners of your country?
We couldn’t believe it, all seemed surreal considering that we lost our first game and the other teams seemed more organized.

What are you doing to prepare for the overall championships in Hong Kong this September?
Yet to be discussed but we will be practicing against the runners up.

Have you finalised your team uniform? 
Not yet, these are currently being designed.

Where will your Eames Lounge & Ottoman go if you win?
At home

Finally, what do you think your chances are of being crowned the Kings and Queens of Aeron Hockey for Asia Pacific?
I would like to think just as good as any other team, like most sports, anything can happen on the day.

Steven Louie is a Director at M Moser Associates in Singapore, the creative team behind the design of the Essential Eames exhibition, which will be a feature of REACH in Hong Kong this September 2011. We recently caught up with Steve to learn a little more about his thoughts and experience of designing the exhibition and his own relationship with the Eames' work, which he has answered with his typical good humour. The exhibition explores the seamless integration of Charles and Ray's creative life and passions. It's wonderful to have some insight into the creativity involved behind the scenes in putting an exhibition like this together, thank you Steve.

Tell us a little about the ‘Essential Eames’ exhibition from a design project perspective. What are the key ideas behind its concept and development as a traveling exhibition.
The design of the exhibit had been conceived in two parts; part one is the “DNA” of the Eames mind, and part two are the “ideas made physical”, in other words, the finished products. The design of the “DNA” portion has been purposely designed to reflect the vast and diverse influences that captured their interest. While each booths have been designed to express their various “worlds” of design, they have been planned so the visitor can see how they are all “connected”.

How do you think the exhibition will be received by its Hong Kong audience and what do you hope visitors will take away with them?
In general, I also regard the Hong Kong audience to be worldly and sophisticated. They will come to appreciate the genius of Charles and Ray Eames. I think the young designers of Hong Kong will be surprised when they discover that many of these items were designed before they were born, and yet they are contemporary and timeless. I wish for the viewer to walk away inspired, and to have the world of “Design” expanded beyond their current definition.

You have a history of working with Herman Miller and by association the Eames office, could you tell us a little about that?
My direct relationship has been with Herman Miller (Tokyo). I had worked closely with the former Director, Nigel Mortimer, and designed the Tokyo showroom (twice) and the Singapore showroom. In short, I was focused more on the overall products of Herman Miller rather than the Eames pieces.

How have Charles and Ray Eames influenced your own career as an architect and designer?
It was during the early 70s when I was studying at Pratt Institute, New York, when Ray and Charles Eames was introduced to me. You have to consider that back in the days of “Flower power” and “Age of Aquarius”, we not only thought we could design “anything” that walked through the door, but that our designs would solve the world’s problems. Learning about the Eames, made me see them as the eternal spirit of design that had no boundaries. They inspired me to look beyond my confines and to associate everything we do as an extension of the design process. 

Finally, what is your favorite Eames design?
This is clearly the hardest question to answer. It’s like asking a parent, which is your favorite child? I don’t  think about the Eames design as a singular piece but rather a continuous expression of their thought, or to quote them, a “30-year flash”.  However, if I pressed to single out a piece I would vacillate between the 1946 Molded Plywood chair and the 1948 La Chaise.

Below is our interview with the Australian team who'll be competing at the first Pan Asian Aeron Hockey Championships next month at REACH. The winning team was the Aeron Maple Leafs, project Managers from Menteena Pty Ltd. Watch out finalists, because these guys have been training on carpet...

Congratulations on making it through to the finals and representing your country in the first Pan Asia Pacific Aeron Hockey Championships.

Tell us, what made you enter the championships?
We know Designcraft as a friendly and warm company to deal with and knew we need to form a team and support this event.

How did you choose your fellow team members?  Did anyone get excluded if they didn’t make the grade?
Jonno Post got cut as he wasn’t commited to our training regime

Was there a training schedule in place?
Oh yes, we had several training sessions and some on carpet to really strengthen our legs.

How did you feel when you made it to be the winners of your country?
Speechless and elated

What are you doing to prepare for the overall championships in Hong Kong this September?
Drink, train, drink, drink, train!

Have you finalised your team uniform? 
Yes, we have an awesome uniform

Where will your Eames Lounge & Ottoman go if you win?
In the love room!

Finally, what do you think your chances are of being crowned the Kings and Queens of Aeron Hockey for Asia Pacific?
Pretty good!

The Singapore Aeron Hockey regoinal finals have been played out and our congratulations goes to Woodhead (below), who are the winning team that will be representing Singapore in Hong Kong at the REACH Pan Asia Championships next month. Here's what they had to say about their win and their game plan for Hong Kong.

Tell us, what made you enter the championships?
Good team spirit… we readily work hard & play hard together.

How did you choose your fellow team members? Did anyone get excluded if they didn’t make the grade?
Everyone was, by default, part of the cheering squad.  Those who were either willing to brave the bruises or ignorant about it were selected for the team.

Was there a training schedule in place?
We dressed up, showed up and got a pep talk just before the game. Since our win in Singapore, there has been an intense training program set in place. 

How did you feel when you made it to be the winners of your country?
In quoting our defensive leader, Ben Dawson, “Honestly, I think this is the best day of my life!”
We are proud & excited to now represent Singapore in the overall finals in Hong Kong.

What are you doing to prepare for the overall championships in Hong Kong this September?
We have been spending more time sitting on and getting acquainted with the Aeron chairs that we won, resting our injuries and seriously contemplating the use of protective gear for the game in Hong Kong.

Have you finalised your team uniform? 
Yes, we will be using the same shirts that brought us victory in Singapore.

Where will your Eames Lounge & Ottoman go if you win?
In our office so everyone can have the pleasure to use it.

Finally, what do you think your chances are of being crowned the Kings and Queens of Aeron Hockey for Asia Pacific?
Not so sure, as the standard is high and the competition is keen, but we will do our best as always.