Over the years, Charles and Ray developed a number of different contract bases for chairs and tables, and one can see clearly it was an evolutionary process, moving from angular forms to more organic, softer, rounder forms. However, there was one constant; they were all pedestal bases. The advantage of pedestal bases is more room…
The Eames Desk Units (EDU) use an ingenious and inventive system of construction as simple and as openly engineered as a bridge. The elements come together with a fine unforced logic, and the methods, mechanics, and reasons are completely apparent on the whole. The units have been designed in such a way as to permit exceptional…
In the 1950’s the Eames Office expanded the versatility of the Molded Shell Chairs to a unique contract application: drafting chairs. Eames Drafting Chairs The Eames Office first used a fiberglass-reinforced polyester shell for the seat of a drafting chair in the early 1950s, when the molded plastic chairs were introduced. The Eames Drafting Chair…
Kids know that large boxes are sometimes more fun than the item inside. So in 1950, Charles and Ray gave playful and imaginative purpose to the furniture packaging. They created functional but fun decorations for the large boxes in which the assembled units were shipped to encourage parents to turn the boxes over to their…
In the words of Charles Eames, this film examines the subject of bread from a variety of standpoints – “The way bread is used in nutrition, bread as an art, bread as a political tool, bread as a symbol.” Live-action shots of the different shapes, forms, and ethnic varieties of bread are accompanied by the…
In late 1953 Charles was invited by the School of Architecture at the University of California, Berkeley, to create the design course for first-year architecture students. Originally he was asked to restructure a graduate course, Charles felt it was most important to impact a student during the first months in the program. The course was…
In 1952 George Nelson was invited by the Department of Fine Arts at the University of Georgia in Athens to develop a new educational policy. Nelson asked Charles Eames to work with him on the procedure, and together they found that the policy needed a complete overhaul. They stated that the challenge of an arts…
An exercise in musical and visual variations on a theme, Blacktop is the image of water and foam generated in the washing of a blacktopped school yard, viewed against the music of Wanda Landowska playing Bach’s Goldberg Variations. Edinburgh International Film Festival winner, 1954. 11 minutes An exercise in musical and visual variations on a…
The Eames Office designed this double-sided handbill in 1957 to promote four films, including A Communications Primer, Two Baroque Churches, House, and Textiles and Ornaments of India.
A first glimpse into the vast subject of communications, designed to open doors to some of the many aspects of a subject that is becoming increasingly important to all of us. The film takes the basic steps of communications theory and presents these steps in the warm terms of everyday experience, then proceeds to explore…
The 1951 Wire Sofa was developed concurrently with the Eames Office development of the Upholstered Wire Chairs. As with the Upholstered Wire Chairs, the framework of each was made of steel wire, designed as structural support for upholstered pads. Eames 1951 Wire Sofa The Eames 1951 Wire Sofa possessed a three cloth cushions with button-tufted…
The Eames 1951 High Back Wire Chair was developed concurrently with the Eames Office development of the Upholstered Wire Chairs. As with the Upholstered Wire Chairs, the framework of each was made of steel wire, designed as structural support for upholstered pads. Eames 1951 High Back Wire Chair The Eames 1951 High Back Wire Chair…
