One of Modernism’s Power Couples or as Tumblrites like to say an OTP. This couple left a huge legacy for design in general. Their way of looking at the design process and seeing design as an opportunity to learn, teach, and create social change/awareness is still innovative and not as common as we'd like to imagine.
Biography: Charles was born in St Louis, Missouri (1907). He studied at Washington University in St.Louis for two years before being expelled for advocating for Frank Lloyd Wright. Prior to this he had worked many odd jobs. After left Washington University, he worked as a draftsman for a few years before he married for the first time and travelled to Europe. This trip allowed him to experience European modernism first hand. The great depression and lack of jobs led him to living in Mexico for a couple of years. Upon his return he worked on St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Arkansas and was later asked by Eliel Saarinen (father of his future partner Eero) to attend Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan. He attended first with a fellowship and later acted as the head of the design department. Here he worked with Eero for MoMa’s Organic Furniture Competition.
Ray was born in Sacramento, California (1912). She studied painting under Hans Hofmann (abstract expressionism) in New York, and later attended Cranbrook where she would meet her future husband Charles. She also assisted Eero and Charles in their molded plywood experiments.
They both decided to move to Los Angeles. While work was scarce Ray worked on painting and graphic illustrations as Charles worked with film. During WWII, the US Navy asked the Eames’ to produce molded plywood stretchers, splints, and experimental glider shells. The Eames’ produced a plethora of design objects and projects including films, architecture, furniture, exhibitions, and children’s toys. They are well known for their molded plywood furniture of 1946 dubbed the “Chair of the Century” by Esther McCoy. It was originally produced by Evans and up until now by Henry Miller in the USA (Vitra International in Europe). Their Case Study House #8 is also very well known for it’s prefab materials. In film their film “Powers of Ten” (1977) also stands out.
Case Study #8
Favorite Quotes:
"Eventually everything connects- people, ideas, objects…the quality of connections is the key to quality per se… I don’t believe in this "gifted concept", just in people doing things they are really interested in doing. They have a way of getting good at whatever it is".
"Ideas are cheap. Always be passionate about ideas and communicating those ideas and discoveries to others in the things you make."
"being committed means becoming involved and to become involved means giving something of oneself. It is only the rare ones today who seem to care that much."
"Great practitioners are conscious to the world – awake to the core of their being. Each day they strive to live consciously,supported by the experiences that develop and inspire their intellectual and emotional persona. They continue to transform and expand their knowledge into a unique capacity to perceive the world and offer lifegiving response. Their ever-increasing consciousness empowers them to adapt, discover new ideas and methods of inquiry, and to direct their future in meaningful ways"
"Unlike Keats, who said that knowing about the rainbow shatters its beauty, I feel that the knowledge about an object can only enrich your feelings for the object itself."
Awards/Recognition:
Organic Furniture Competition, Museum of Modern Art, 1940
Emmy Award, (Graphics), “The Fabulous Fifties,” 1960
Kaufmann International Design Award, 1961
25 Year American Institute of Architects Award, 1977
Eliot Norton Chair of Poetry, Harvard, 1971
Queen’s Gold Medal for Architecture, 1979
Named “Most Influential Designer of the 20th Century,” WORLDESIGN ‘85, Industrial Designers Society of America, 1985
The Work of Charles and Ray Eames: A Legacy of Invention, Traveling Exhibition, Library of Congress, 1999
Brief Eames’ Office Lessons: (read Max Underwood’s Lecture for a great elaboration)
1-Do Only Challenging Problems.
2- “What is Interesting?”- Doing work that you value can bring about the natural passion to work and inexhaustible curiosity.
3-Respect Constraints.
4-Make Connections.
5-Seek to be Curious and See Anew.
6-Real Learning Comes Through Primary Experiences.
7-Engage in the Hands-On Process of Envisioning and Modeling and Prototyping.
8-Use Film and Photography as Essays.
9-Do Concurrent Problems coupled with Simultaneous Design Activities.
10-Constant Refinement through Endless Iteration.
