Interior Design Blog by Phoenix Wang
The technical aspects of the Eames’ work
Charles and Ray Eames are among the most influential American designers of the 20th century. A wide variety of furniture designs have been created by Charles and Ray Eames, such as Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman, Eames Plastic Armchair (DAR), Prototype for Chaise Longue (La Chaise), Eames Plastic Armchair (DAR) and so on. (See figure below) They thought that modern architecture should be back to nature rather than be separated from nature. Eames House (Case Study House #8) is one of Eames’ works of architecture. Eames House is generally regarded as a masterpiece of the postwar architecture. Griffiths claimed (2015) that the messy and unusual interior of the Eames House is illustrated in photographs and, along with shelves displaying collections of tin toys and Mexican masks, helps provide a sense of the couple's diverse tastes and get an extensive range of inspiration.
Charles and Ray Eames have their own style. What they designed are modern and fashionable. Their works are not only just functional furniture but also elegant furnishings.The common element is that Eames' work all has simple fluent lines and pure color without excessive decoration.
Based on the design concept of people-oriented, the ambitious couple aimed to design creative furniture which is low-cost and excellent quality with mass production. The Eames’ design and creative genius was inspired by their pursuit. As Normandin says, 'Committed to overcoming the challenges of developing new methods to mass–produce compound curved, shaped, molded– plywood chairs, the Eameses set out to create and further develop their furniture designs by researching new manufacturing and fabrication techniques that drew on prior developments with plywood chair manufacturing at Cranbrook. Eventually, the Eames’s molded–plywood chair represented their first attempt to create a single shell that would be comfortable without padding and could be quickly mass produced.' (Normandin, 2012)
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Prototype for Chaise Longue (La Chaise) 1948
Eames Plastic Armchair (DAR)
1948-50
Dining Chair Wood (DCW)
1946
Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman
1956
The detailed process of manufacturing started in 1945, molded plywood shapes were developed in several configurations to include different types of back supports, seats, and numerous types of legs and spines. As the most important organic designers of the 20th century，the couple proved that modern design how to be able to improve the people's quality of life by their practice. During half a century of their successful cooperation, Eameses have given a new meaning of ‘form follows function’ from aesthetics and technology. These early plywood chairs worked as prototypes which could be tested upon and were designed at full scale not only in wood but also in metal, so that parts of each chair could be compared to settle technical and aesthetic issues. There are many technical problems which needed to be solved. The important thing was resolving aesthetic issues, as newly shaped material elements often was dependent on engineered connections. Numerous types of glues and rubber discs were used in these tests to optimize connexions between individual chair components. The Eameses not only improved prototype plywood chairs but also tables and lounge chairs. (Normandin, 2012)
For example, Charles and Ray Eames designed the Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman in the 1950s. The classic chair was first manufactured for sale in 1956 by the Herman Miller Furniture Company of Michigan, USA. The angle of recline is not able to be adjusted cause it is set in one position for good. (See figure below)
The construction of the Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman adopts new materials and techniques, such as the use of laminated plywood (layers of veneers) which was widely grown during the Second World War, for military purposes. The metal supports / frames were manufactured from lightweight aluminium. Rubber spacers between the laminated veneers and aluminium supports, provides light flexibility, particularly in the headrest. The seat is designed for shock absorption especially when the chair is initially sat on. (Ryan, 2011)
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During this period, the Eameses also created a range of children’s furniture and molded plywood animals. (See figure below) The furniture was created from laminated birch and was manufactured in many colors, with an ultimate run of 50,000 chairs and stools mass–produced by the Molded Plywood Division of Evans Products. In June 1946, Evans Products gave the furniture company Herman Miller Inc. exclusive rights to market and spread the plywood furniture.
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As the Eameses kept test with materials discovered by American manufacturers during wartime commodities, their interest in materiality expanded also to plastics with fiberglass reinforcements for their new furniture designs. Charles Eames’ shell chair was the first chair to be mass produced in plastic. The chair had a single molded component for the seat and back support. The successful test developing this chair by using fiberglass–reinforced polyester resin is perhaps one of the most significant examples of how development of new materials and techniques had an influence on design during the postwar period. The shell chair was designed to be light, durable, and easy to store, and together with the Eames plywood armchair and ottoman, it is among the masterworks of 20th–century chair design. All of the principal Eames furniture designs, containing the plastic shell chairs on metal legs, all–wire chairs, stacking chairs in plastic, and the bent–plywood lounge chair and ottoman were manufactured by the furniture company Herman Miller. The Eameses did not just design furniture but engaged implementation of full–scale mass production of tables, storage units, and stacking chairs, all which were designed artwork.
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Eames wire chair (DKR) showed in the picture above, based on Charles and Ray Eames' industrial design sensibilities, was designed in 1951. The design of this chair was inspired by Eiffel Tower. The legs of this chair and the cushion of the seat are made of metal strips, shaping like Eiffel Tower. Appling ergonomics to the seat of the chair makes people feel more comfortable. According to Vitra design museum' website, 'Charles and Ray Eames demonstrated their fondness for industrial production methods and materials with a technological thrust in their designs for the New York MoMA’s 1948 “Low Cost Furniture Design” competition.' ... 'Wire had already proven itself as a material in various bases for fiberglass shells and for the bases of tables. Its delicate transparency and visual lightness combined with high resiliency could now also be applied to the shell construction. After experiments with triangular mesh, a rectangular structure and spot-welding were eventually chosen. The loose ends of wire were bound at the edge by two thicker wires. Thus the tips of the wires were less sharp and the shell shape was stabilized. This technological innovation was awarded a patent, the first for a mechanical solution for furniture. With its use of a single material for the base and seat the design of the “Wire Chair,” as the “DKR” is also known, offered a holistic appearance, but, like the plastic shell, it was also available in different base options; the most well known is the “Eiffel-Tower Base.” ' (Vitra design museum, n.d.)
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There are some relevant videos about the story of Charles and Ray Eames and the specific process of Eames' chair. The pieces of Eames' work have been fully tested and assembled precisely. Detail makes the most extraordinary products.
In all of the videos, it's worth mentioning that there is a Ted talk about the design genius of Charles and Ray Eames. Eames Demetrios is the speaker of this Ted talk. He is also the founder of Kcymaerxthaere and the grandson of Charles and Ray Eames. People would know the creative couple better, especially after viewing his Ted talk.
Charles and Ray Eames were farsighted persons. They devoted themselves to furniture design, even the development of furniture industry was not almost as prosperous as it turned out to be. The qualities for which they are respected are that they were willing to take risks and try new things as a team. Charles was doing the organic chair while he was doing a film at the same time. A film made for the Moscow World's Fair was shown on seven screens and it was 200 feet across in this video. Charles and Ray always found human connection in everything. They believed that the human mind could accept this amount of images because the primary thing was to get the epiphany of what the images were about. In addition to making films, they were also always modeling stuff. What they did was always part of how they looked at the world. It is a better choice for Charles and Ray to continue the design process rather than end. They were always trying to make thing better and perfect. The first thing they considered is the need of people. The most important thing for Eameses is solving key problems. Design was not something else. It was part of the business of life in general and part of the quality of life for them.
Eames have still had a significant impact on people’s lifestyle
Charles and Ray participated in the 1948 'Low-Cost Furniture' competition at MoMA
The Eames Lounge Chair is the permanent collection of New York’s Museum of Modern Art
Please check out related links about the virtual model of Eames House and the Eames timeline.
Charles and Ray Eames have changed the way people sit by using new materials and techniques. Eames' extraordinary works were designed by their obsessive attention to detail. It can also meet the needs of people. What they designed have excellent quality and reasonable price. Charles and Ray Eames have an enduring and deep impact on interior design. Their influence still can be found in modern design. According to design museum' (n.d.) website, they not just designed some of the most important and creative furniture of the late 20th century, but through their films, teaching, writing and their life together in Eames house they designed in Pacific Palisades, they gave a new definition, an open, organic, emotionally expressive approach to design and lifestyle.
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1. Alyn Griffiths. 2015. Inside the world of Charles and Ray Eames, design's most illustrious couple. [ONLINE] Available at: http://edition.cnn.com/2015/10/30/design/the-world-of-charles-and-ray-eames/. [Accessed 11 January 16].
2. Normandin, K, 2012. Charles and Ray Eames: Modern Living in a Postwar Era. Docomomo Journal, 46, 48.
3.V. Ryan. 2011. LOUNGE CHAIR BY CHARLES AND RAY EAMES - 1956. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.technologystudent.com/prddes1/eames1.html. [Accessed 11 January 16].
4. Vitra design museum. n.d. DKR (Dining Height, K-Wire Shell, R-Wire Base/Rod Iron Base). [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.design-museum.de/en/collection/100-masterpieces/detailseiten/dkr-eames.html. [Accessed 11 January 16].
5. Design museum. n.d. CHARLES + RAY EAMES Product Designers (1907-1978 + 1912-1988) Design Museum Collection. [ONLINE] Available at: http://design.designmuseum.org/design/charles-ray-eames. [Accessed 11 January 16].