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For other persons named Charles Eames, see Charles Eames (disambiguation).

Charles (1907-1978) and Ray (1912–1988) Eames (pronounced /ˈiːmz/) were American designers, married in 1941, who worked and made major contributions in many fields of design including industrial design, furniture design, art, graphic design, film and architecture. Industrial design is an Applied art whereby the Aesthetics and Usability of mass-produced products may be improved for marketability and Art refers to a diverse range of Human activities creations and expressions that are appealing to the Senses or Emotions of a human individual The term graphic design can refer to a number of artistic and professional disciplines which focus on visual communication and presentation The term architecture (from Greek αρχιτεκτονικήarchitektoniki) can be used to mean a process a profession or documentation

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Charles Eames

Charles Ormond Eames, Jr was born in 1907 in Saint Louis, Missouri. Missouri ( or) is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee By the time he was 14 years old, while attending high school, Charles worked at the Laclede Steel Company as a part-time laborer, where he learned about engineering, drawing, and architecture (and also first entertained the idea of one day becoming an architect).

Charles briefly studied architecture at Washington University in St. Louis on an architectural scholarship. He showed studying Frank Lloyd Wright to his professors, and when he would not cease his interest in modern architects, he was dismissed from the university. Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8 1867 &ndash April 9 1959 was an American (of Welsh descent Architect, Interior designer, Writer, and educator who In the report describing why he was dismissed from the university, a professor wrote the comment "His views were too modern. " While at Washington University, he met his first wife, Catherine Woermann, whom he married in 1929. A year later, they had a daughter, Lucia.

After he left school and was married, Charles began his own architectural practice, with partners Charles Gray and later Walter Pauley.

One great influence on him was the Finnish architect Eliel Saarinen (whose son Eero, also an architect, would become a partner and friend). Gottlieb Eliel Saarinen ( August 20, 1873, Rantasalmi, Finland &ndash July 1, 1950, Bloomfield Hills Michigan Eero Saarinen (eːro saːrinen (August 20 1910 Kirkkonummi, Finland – September 1 1961 Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States) was At the elder Saarinen's invitation, he moved in 1938 with his wife Catherine and daughter Lucia to Michigan, to further study architecture at the Cranbrook Academy of Art, where he would become a teacher and head of the industrial design department. Michigan ( is a Midwestern state of the United States of America. The Cranbrook Educational Community, a National Historic Landmark, in the U Industrial design is an Applied art whereby the Aesthetics and Usability of mass-produced products may be improved for marketability and One of the requirements of the Architecture and Urban Planning Program, at the time Eames applied, was for the student to have decided upon his project and gathered as much pertinent information in advance – Eames' interest was in the St. Louis waterfront. Together with Eero Saarinen he designed prize-winning furniture for New York's Museum of Modern Art "Organic Design in Home Furnishings" competition. The City of New York The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, USA, on 53rd Street between Fifth [1] Their work displayed the new technique of wood moulding (originally developed by Alvar Aalto), that Eames would further develop in many moulded plywood products, including, beside chairs and other furniture, splints and stretchers for the U.S. Navy during World War II. Hugo Alvar Henrik Aalto ( February 3, 1898 — May 11, 1976) was a Finnish Architect and Designer, sometimes Plywood is a type of Engineered board made from thin sheets of Wood, called plies or veneers A chair is a kind of Furniture for Sitting, consisting of a back and sometimes arm rests commonly for use by one person Furniture is the Mass noun for the movable objects which may support the human body (seating furniture and beds, provide storage or hold objects on horizontal World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including [2]

In 1941, Charles and Catherine divorced, and he married his Cranbrook colleague Ray Kaiser, who was born in Sacramento, California. Charles (1907-1978 and Ray (1912–1988 Eames (ˈiːmz were American designers married in 1941 who worked and made major contributions in many fields of design He then moved with her to Los Angeles, California, where they would work and live for the rest of their lives. Los Angeles (lɑˈsændʒələs los ˈaŋxeles in Spanish) is the largest City in the state of California and the American West California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. In the late 1940s, as part of the Arts & Architecture magazine's "Case Study" program, Ray and Charles designed and built the groundbreaking Eames House, Case Study House #8, as their home. Arts & Architecture (1938-1967 was an American Architecture Magazine. The Case Study Houses were experiments in American residential architecture sponsored by John Entenza 's (later David Travers' Arts & Architecture magazine which The Eames House (also known as Case Study House No 8) is a landmark of mid-20th century Modern architecture located at 203 North Chautauqua Boulevard in Located upon a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean, and hand-constructed within a matter of days entirely of pre-fabricated steel parts intended for industrial construction, it remains a milestone of modern architecture. The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth 's Oceanic divisions This article is concerned with architectural aspects of Modernism; for the most recent developments in architecture see Contemporary architecture.

Ray Eames

Ray-Bernice Alexandra Kaiser Eames (December 15, 1912 - August 21, 1988) (pronounced [ɹeɪ ˈiːmz]) was an American artist, designer, and filmmaker who, together with her husband Charles, is responsible for many classic, iconic designs of the 20th century. Events 533 - Byzantine general Belisarius defeats the Vandals, commanded by King Gelimer, at the Battle of Year 1912 ( MCMXII) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year starting Events 1192 - Minamoto Yoritomo becomes Seii Tai Shōgun and the De facto ruler of Japan. Year 1988 ( MCMLXXXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link displays 1988 Gregorian calendar) Design is used both as a Noun and a Verb. The term is often tied to the various Applied arts and Engineering (See design disciplines Charles (1907-1978 and Ray (1912–1988 Eames (ˈiːmz were American designers married in 1941 who worked and made major contributions in many fields of design She was born in Sacramento, California. California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. Having lived in a number of cities during her youth, in 1933 she moved to New York, where she studied abstract painting with Hans Hofmann. The City of New York Hans Hofmann ( March 21 1880 – February 17 1966) was a German-born American abstract expressionist painter

In September 1940 she began studies at the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, where she met Charles Eames, marrying him the following year. The Cranbrook Educational Community, a National Historic Landmark, in the U Bloomfield Hills is a City in Oakland County of the US state of Michigan, northwest of Detroit (18 miles from downtown Detroit Michigan ( is a Midwestern state of the United States of America. Year 1941 ( MCMXLI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (the link will display 1941 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Settling in Los Angeles, California, Charles and Ray Eames would lead an outstanding career in design and architecture (for details see "Charles Eames"). Los Angeles (lɑˈsændʒələs los ˈaŋxeles in Spanish) is the largest City in the state of California and the American West California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. Charles (1907-1978 and Ray (1912–1988 Eames (ˈiːmz were American designers married in 1941 who worked and made major contributions in many fields of design

Ray Eames died in Los Angeles in 1988, ten years to the day after Charles.

Designers

In the 1950s, the Eameses would continue their work in architecture and modern furniture design, often (like in the earlier moulded plywood work) pioneering innovative technologies, such as the fiberglass and plastic resin chairs and the wire mesh chairs designed for Herman Miller. Modern furniture refers to Furniture produced from the late 19th century through the present that is influenced by Modernism. Fiberglass (also called fibreglass and glass fibre see Spelling differences) is material made from extremely fine Fibers of Glass. Herman Miller Inc, based in Zeeland Michigan, is an American Manufacturer of office Besides this work, Charles would soon channel his interest in photography into the production of short films. Photography (fә'tɒgrәfi or fә'tɑːgrәfi (from Greek φωτο and γραφία is the process and Art of recording pictures by means of capturing Short subject is a format description originally coined in the North American Film industry in the early period of cinema. From their first one, the unfinished Traveling Boy (1950), to the extraordinary Powers of Ten (1977), their cinematic work was an outlet for ideas, a vehicle for experimentation and education. Powers of Ten is a 1977 short Documentary film written and directed by Ray Eames and her husband Charles Eames.

The Eameses also conceived and designed a number of landmark exhibitions. The first of these, Mathematica: a world of numbers...and beyond (1961), was sponsored by IBM, and is the only one of their exhibitions still existent. History of the Mathematica Exhibition In March 1961 a new science wing at the California Museum of Science and Industry in Los Angeles opened The original was created for a new wing of the (currently named) California Science Center; it is now owned by and on display at the New York Hall of Science. The California Science Center (sometimes spelled California ScienCenter) is a state agency and museum located in Exposition Park, Los Angeles The New York Hall of Science occupies one of the few remaining structures of the 1964 New York World's Fair in Flushing Meadow-Corona Park in the In late 1961 a duplicate was created for the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago; in 1980 it moved to the Museum of Science, Boston. The Museum of Science and Industry (MSI is located in Chicago, Illinois in Jackson Park, in the Hyde Park neighborhood adjacent to Chicago (ʃɪˈkɑːgoʊ is the largest City by population in the state of Illinois and the American Midwest of the United States. The Museum of Science ( MoS) is a Boston Massachusetts landmark located in Science Park a plot of land spanning the Charles River. Another version was created for the 1964/1965 New York World's Fair IBM exhibit. The 1964/1965 New York World's Fair was the third major World's Fair to be held in New York City After the World's Fair it was moved to the Pacific Science Center in Seattle where it stayed until 1980. The Pacific Science Center is a Science museum in Seattle Washington. The Mathematica Exhibition is still considered a model for scientific popularization exhibitions. It was followed by "A Computer Perspective: Background to the Computer Age" (1971) and "The World of Franklin and Jefferson" (1975-1977), among others.

The office of Charles and Ray Eames, which functioned for more than four decades (1943-88) at 901 Washington Boulevard in Venice, California, included in its staff, at one time of another, a number of remarkable designers, like Don Albinson, Deborah Sussman, Richard Foy and Henry Beer. Venice is a district in western Los Angeles California. It is known for its Canals Beaches and Circus -like Ocean Front Walk, Among the many important designs originating there are the molded-plywood DCW (Dining Chair Wood) and DCM (Dining Chair Metal with a plywood seat) (1945), Eames Lounge Chair (1956), the Aluminum Group furniture (1958) and as well as the Eames Chaise (1968), designed for Charles's friend, film director Billy Wilder, the playful Do-Nothing Machine (1957), an early solar energy experiment, and a number of toys. The Eames Lounge Chair and ottoman, correctly titled Eames Lounge (670 and Ottoman (671 were released in 1956 after years of development by Designers Billy Wilder ( June 22, 1906 – March 27, 2002) was an Austrian born Jewish - American Journalist Solar energy is the Light and radiant heat from the Sun that powers Earth 's Climate and Weather and sustains Life

Short films produced by the couple often document their interests in collecting toys and cultural artifacts on their travels. The films also record the process of hanging their exhibits or producing classic furniture designs, to the purposefully mundane topic of filming soap suds moving over the pavement of a parking lot. Perhaps their most popular movie, "Powers of 10" (narrated by the late physicist Philip Morrison), gives a dramatic demonstration of orders of magnitude by visually zooming away from the earth to the edge of the universe, and then microscopically zooming into the nucleus of a carbon atom. An order of magnitude is the class of scale or magnitude of any amount where each class contains values of a fixed ratio to the class preceding it Charles was a prolific photographer as well with thousands of images of their furniture, exhibits and collections, and now a part of the Library of Congress.

Charles Eames died of a heart attack on August 21, 1978 while on a consulting trip in his native Saint Louis, and now has a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame. The St Louis Walk of Fame honors well-known people from St Louis Missouri who made contributions to Culture of the United States. Ray died 10 years later to the exact day.

At the time of his death they were working on what became their last production, the Eames Sofa which went into production in 1984.

From the beginning, The Eames furniture has usually been listed as by Charles Eames; indeed in the 1948 and 1952 Herman Miller bound catalogs, only Charles' name is listed, but it's become clear that Ray was deeply involved and should be considered an equal partner. Herman Miller may refer to Herman Miller (conlanger, creator of constructed languages Herman Miller (office equipment, U The Eames fabrics (many are currently available from Maharam were mostly designed by Ray, as were the Time Life Stools. But in reading the various books on Eames, and seeing the photos of furniture developement, it's clear that Ray's involvement is absolute.

Philosophy

A sketch by Charles Eames illustrating the Eames design Process
A sketch by Charles Eames illustrating the Eames design Process

The Eames philosophy was very much entrenched in process. Process to get to the final product often took years of trial and error.

In 1970-71, Charles Eames gave the Charles Eliot Norton Lectures at Harvard University. The Charles Eliot Norton Professorship of Poetry at Harvard University was established in 1925 as an annual lectureship in "poetry in the broadest sense" and named At the lectures, the Eames viewpoint and philosophy are related through Charles' own telling of what he called the banana leaf parable, a banana leaf being the most basic dish off which to eat in southern India. He related the progression of design and its process where the banana leaf is transformed into something fantastically ornate. He explains the next step and ties it to the design process by finishing the parable with:

"But you can go beyond that and the guys that have not only means, but a certain amount of knowledge and understanding, go the next step and they eat off of a banana leaf. And I think that in these times when we fall back and regroup, that somehow or other, the banana leaf parable sort of got to get working there, because I'm not prepared to say that the banana leaf that one eats off of is the same as the other eats off of, but it's that process that has happened within the man that changes the banana leaf. And as we attack these problems – and I hope and I expect that the total amount of energy used in this world is going to go from high to medium to a little bit lower – the banana leaf idea might have a great part in it. "[3]

Works

Revisions and sourced additions are welcome.

Architecture

Selected films

Exhibition design

Exhibits and retrospectives

Furniture

Eames Lounge Chair Wood (LCW)
Eames Lounge Chair Wood (LCW)

(most of the above are still available; see http://www.hermanmiller.com)

Other

Quotes

Also see

References

  1. ^ Eliot F. The Eames Lounge Chair and ottoman, correctly titled Eames Lounge (670 and Ottoman (671 were released in 1956 after years of development by Designers The Eames Lounge Chair Wood (LCW (also known as Low Chair Wood or Eames Plywood Lounge Chair) is a chair designed by husband and wife team Charles and Ray Eames Noyes. Organic Design in Home Furnishings. Museum of Modern Art. 1941.
  2. ^ Alexandra Griffith Winton. Charles Eames (1907–78) and Ray Eames (1912–88). The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Accessed 12 December 2007.
  3. ^ Charles Eames. Excerpt from Norton Lecture #1 by Charles Eames. Eames Office resources. Accessed 11 December 2007.

External links

Official sites:

Pictures

Chairs and furniture:

Resources

Film references

Films in the public domain:

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