Irving Harper was the design director at the George Nelson Office. He’s worked on such iconic projects as the Marshmallow sofa, the ball clock, and even the Herman Miller logo. In 1964, he started to make paper sculptures to relieve his stress. He became obsessed with them. Now, more than 500 paper pieces fill his house. It’s fascinating to listen to him talk. Someone make a movie about him already.

George Nelson said of Irving, “I have never met a designer who was retained to keep things the same as they were.”

This video was produced as part of Herman Miller’s new ‘Why Design’ series.

Jump in to watch a video of Yves Béhar talk about why ‘surfing is like improvisational jazz’.