Eames designs are certainly iconic. Everyone of us know at least two or three of their famous chairs. I would even risk saying that most of us dream about having a nice Eames in our offices or living rooms. Charles and Ray Eames definitely made major contributions to modern furniture and architecture, specially if we account that their most popular designs were created between 1946 and 1976 and are still loved among those who appreciate good design.
Their work is beautiful and inspiring, and this is why today we will show you images from their famous chairs so you can see the concepts and the beauty of their ideas. Eames designs are classics that can show us examples of simple and elegant designs that work. This selection is inspiring and it also shows that you can encounter a line of design that work and you can stick with it, like they did. Once you figure your style you can improve on it to reach excellence, just like these chairs. As Braun made a statement on electronics, Eames made one on furniture. These are products that prove that Dieter Rams’s principles for good design were right, specially good design is aesthetic and good design is long-lasting.
DCW 1946
DKW-1 1951
PAW 1952
LCW 1954
DAX 1954
DCM 1954
DKR-1 1954
DSR 1954
DKR-2 1957
LAR-1 1957
1730-1 La Fonda Arm Chair 1961
1700-1 La Fonda Side Chair 1962
622 NA-60 1962
ES 106 Eames Chaise 1968
EC175-8 Eames Office Seating 1971
DSX Side Chair 1974
ES 670 Lounge Chair 1978
ES 671 Ottoman 1978
Lounge Chair + Ottoman
EC110 1985
Charles and Ray Eames are among the most important American designers of this century. They are best known for their groundbreaking contributions to architecture, furniture design, industrial design and manufacturing, and the photographic arts.
Charles Eames was born in 1907 in St. Louis, Missouri. He attended school there and developed an interest in engineering and architecture. After attending Washington University on scholarship for two years and being thrown out for his advocacy of Frank Lloyd Wright, he began working in an architectural office. In 1929, he married his first wife, Catherine Woermann (they divorced in 1941), and a year later Charles’ only child, daughter Lucia was born. In 1930, Charles started his own architectural office. He began extending his design ideas beyond architecture and received a fellowship to Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan, where he eventually became head of the design department.
Ray Kaiser Eames was born in Sacramento, California in the middle of the century’s second decade. She studied painting with Hans Hofmann in New York before moving on to Cranbrook Academy where she met and assisted Charles and Eero Saarinen in preparing designs for the Museum of Modern Art’s “Organic Furniture Competition.” Charles and Eero’s designs, created by molding plywood into complex curves, won them the two first prizes.
Charles and Ray married in 1941 and moved to California where they continued their furniture design work with molding plywood.
More about Eames
Want to know more about Eames history? Check out some books and the trailer of a documentary about them.
Books
Work of Charles and Ray Eames
The Furniture of Charles & Ray Eames
Eames Design
Movie – EAMES: The Architect and The Painter
The movie is available on Netflix.
