EAMES

the architect and the painter

Ray and
Charles
Eames
Charles and
Ray Eameswere
American
designers.
They made major
contributions to
modern
architectureandf
urniture.

Ray and
Charles
Eames
they

occupy a
central position in
the history of
postwar American
design.

Charles
Eames
was
not
only
furniture designer.
He was
also an
architect
and
filmmaker.

Charles
Eames

I had been trained

as a painter, but when
we were working
on furniture, and again
in
film,
it
never
seemed like leaving
painting in any way,
because it was just
another form.

Ray
Eames

Everything that they

did
in design, she saw as
an extension of her
painting.

Ray
Eames

painter

&

architect

EAMES
OFFICE
Furniture, toys,
architecture,
exhibitions,
photography, and
film were all
connected in the
wild, whimsical
world of the Eames
Office.

The Eames chair

TIME magazine
called it "the
greatest design
of the 20th
century.

Responding to a competition at
the museum of modern art
(MOMA) in 1940, Charles Eames
and Eero Saarinen, set out to
reinvent the very idea of the
chair.

They won the competition. The

irony is that the chair that
Eames
and
Saarinen
designed,they couldn't really
manufacture

After
many
unsuccessful
attempts,
Eero
Saarinen
scrapped the project.

MOMA
Competitio
n

Kaiser.

New
They sparked, and the rest is
partnershi literally history..
p
Charles
quit
his
job
at
Cranbrook, and, in one last
letter to Ray, he asked for her
hand in marriage.
His future with his new bride
now depended on making the
chair work.

Second World War

troubles and opportunities
.
U.S. military needed new
splints. Charles and Ray
Eames were designed splints
made of molded plywood.

In a rented warehouse
space, their team of
skilled designers and
craftspeople made
150,000 splints.

The beginning
of the Eames
design process
a process of
learning by
doing
The plywood furniture
was good to go in
1946.

Charles and Ray

scored success with
line after line of
Eames furniture.

"We wanted to make the best

for the most for the least."

EAMES PRODUCTS

Since the first public release in

1951, "Eames Molded Plastic
Side Chair", also known as the
miracle of design has come a
long way.
Eames Meets New
Technology
Today's technology has finally
allowed the flexibility of wood.

EAMES MOLDED
PLASTIC CHAIR
Side chair

EAMES MOLDED
WOOD CHAIR
Side chair

LA CHAISE
chair
This chair was originally designed in
1948 for the Museum of Modern Art's
"International Competition for Low Cost
Furniture Design.".

The play on words of the name "La

Chaise" references both the furniture
form and an observation by Charles
and Ray that a floating sculpture by
Gaston LaChaise could fit in this chair.
Floating figure,
Gaston Lachaise

ALUMINIUM GROUP
Multipurpose chairs

The lithe chairs of the Eames Aluminum

Group have been a popular design since
their introduction in 1958.
And a wide range of material options lets
you create the chair you want.

EAMES LONGUE CHAIR

AND OTTOMAN

They were released in 1956 after years of

development bydesigners. The
quintessential modern classic, the set is
now available in an expanded range of
materials, to suit any interior and every
taste.

THE EAMES HOUSE

The facade is broken

down into a rigidly
geometric composition of
brightly colored panels
between thin steel
columns and braces,
painted black.

House interior
The colors and banners of the facade
also have a functional character. They
dictate the relationship between
interior and exterior architecture, and
they vary according to the needs of
light, air, privacy and views.

Besides the dry brush that

hangs from the ceiling, two
images of Hans Hofmann
were hanging too.

The Eames house in Los Angeles on that bluf

overlooking the Pacific Ocean is surely one of the
great buildings of the 20th century.
The house was included in a list of all time top 10
houses in Los Angeles.

IMPORTANCE OF EAMES FOR

DESIGN OF 20TH CENTURY

For more than four decades, American

designers Charles and Ray Eames helped
shape nearly every facet of American life.
From their architecture, furniture, and textile
designs to their photography and corporate
design, the husband-and-wife team exerted a
profound influence on the visual character
ofdaily life in America, whether at work or at
home.

EAMES
Thankfully, they lived long enough to have a
profound impact on American culture and society.

EAMES