This year’s IIDA Leaders Breakfast surprised guests with an on-the-spot announcement of 2015’s HermanMiller IIDA Award honorees. Winning designers Hazel Siegel and Randy Fahey were recognized with the special-edition Eames Stool, made of sustainable solid ash with a translucent red stain, from Herman Miller, a piece that has its roots in a 1959 collection of furniture and lobbies that Charles and Ray Eames designed for Henry Luce’s Time-Life Building.
This year's sold-out Breakfast was held at event space 585 Park Avenue.
Event speaker Paola Antonelli, senior curator of architecture and design and director of research and development at MoMA, spoke passionately about the responsibility of design, citing various works, such as a silkworm-produced silk exhibit and 3-D printing projects, that not only bridge art and design but also advance the common good. “Beauty and elegance,” she said, “are a form of respect for others.” As design shifts its focus from “working for consumers” to working for human beings, said Antonelli, the result is a renewed emphasis on using technology within design to enhance life and embrace the natural environment.
Paola Antonelli; Tom Polucci and Suzette Rhodes, Breakfast Co-Chairs
Held at event space 585 Park Avenue in New York City, the sold-out event drew a record turnout of 700 guests and was sponsored by an array of partners, including design firm partners Cannon Design, Environetics, HLW, HOK, Perkins+Will, Rockwell Group and Vocon.
