Charles and Ray Eames: 5 Iconic Works
Charles and Ray Eames were visionaries who changed the course of design history
Charles and Ray Eamess are known for their groundbreaking contributions to architecture, furniture design, industrial design, manufacturing, and photography.
Having met while attending the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, Charles Eames and Ray Kaiser Eames married and moved to California in 1941, where they continued to experiment with molded plywood. These experiments would lay the foundations for the future of modern design: their pioneering use of new materials and technologies would transform the American home, introducing furnishings and objects that were functional, affordable, and highly sculptural.
Charles and Ray would become the first designers to design and mass-produce molded plywood with compound curves. Their experimental approach to materials continued throughout subsequent decades, using molded fiberglass for a series of inexpensive shell chairs, a collapsible sofa, an upholstered, molded lounge chair, a range of aluminum-framed furniture, and many other innovative designs.
The Eameses were committed to using design to improve lives, including those of American soldiers during World War II. They also wrote books, designed museum exhibitions, created toys, made films, and much more. Here we take a look at five of their most iconic works.
The Eames House
The Eames House, also known as Case Study House No. 8, is a landmark of mid-20th century modern architecture. Built in 1949, it is located in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles and comprises two glass and steel rectangular boxes: one is a residence; the other, a working studio.
The couple lived in the house until their deaths: Charles in 1978 and Ray, ten years later, in 1988. The interiors were constantly evolving, richly decorated with things the couple collected on their travels: mobiles, rush baskets, Native American art, Japanese dolls. The house is now a US National Historic Landmark and open to visitors. It was built as part of The Case Study House Program, spearheaded by John Entenza, the publisher of Arts & Architecture magazine.
The Eameses collected a wooden black bird after a trip to the Appalachian mountains. The bird soon appeared in their product photos, and mistankely, many people think this piece of folk art is one of their creations. Regardless, the bird is often seen in the house environment.
LCW
Hailed by Time magazine as the “chair of the century”, the iconic LCW or Lounge Chair Wood (1946) was a result of Charles and Ray’s experiments with molded plywood. Originally hoping to create a single-piece shell, eventually they came up with two separate pieces for the seat and backrest of the chair, joined by a plywood spine and supported by plywood legs.
The Eames LCW Side Chair had a dining height sister chair–the DCW–and the two were replicated with metal bases in the DCM and LCM. The group as a whole would soon become known as the ‘Eames Chairs’ and was marketed as such through the early ’50s.
Splits for the military during WWII
During the early years of World War II, the US military realized that they needed to replace their metal splints, given that they were causing soldiers further injuries. The Eameses were contracted to create lightweight, inexpensive molded plywood splints that could be mass-produced and easily transported. They would also go on to design molded plywood fuselage parts for airplanes, as well as a pilot seat, stretchers, and more.
Folding Screen Wood
Another result of one of their early molding experiments, this folding screen is made with multiple U-shaped cross-sections of plywood that have been lined up and joined together using a flexible connector. In the beginning, the Eameses used a flexible synthetic adhesive developed during World War II, called Vinylite tape, to connect the pieces.
Charles and Ray were among the first designers to apply technologies, materials, and bonding substances developed during World War II to the design of products for your average American customer.
La Chaise
Charles and Ray designed this lounge chair for The Museum of Modern Art’s 1948 International Competition for Low-Cost Furniture Design, inspired by Gaston Lachaise’s Floating Figure sculpture, which its name references. The seat, made of fiberglass, sits on top of a base made out of steel and oak.
Bonus: Powers of Ten
This is one of their best-known films. Produced in 1977, it was included in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.” The film illustrates the universe in rates of 10 to the tenth meters every second, starting at a human scale, visiting the atomic world and the space.
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