Charles & Ray Eames

Cori Kippin

The Eames house is one of the most important post-war residences built anywhere in the world.

The home was built for the Case Study Program House. The entire home was made completely out of premade material. Charles was actually trained in architecture while Ray in painting and design.

Charles Osmond Eames Jr. Born: June 17, 1907Died: August 21, 1978

Bernice Alexandra Ray KaiserBorn: December 15, 1912Died: August 21, 1988

Architecture

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Design for UseTogether they designed commercial work. The connected seating that is used is airports was originaly designed by the Eameses. Their work can be found in other places like schools, and train stations. They were commissioned by the Navy to build personal items out of the affordable material plywood. One of their tasks was to make a leg splint.

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Design for Use“What works good is better than what looks good, because what works good lasts.”Ray Eames

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Influenced by photography Charles and Ray began making short films. Between 1950 and 1982, Charles and Ray Eames made over 100 films ranging 1-30 minutes.3 Instead of writing essays to explore theory the Eameses used film to help them understand the world.

“Who would say that pleasure is not useful?”

Film

-Charles Eames

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“Who would say that pleasure is not useful?”

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Design for Living

Ray and Charles were pioneers in furniture design. Their designs were based on modern and functional constraints. Making affordable furniture was important to them. Their molded plywood chair has been refered to as “chair of the century”.4

It all began when Charles entered the Organic Design in Home Furnishings Competition with his partner Eero Saarinen. Ray atteneded Cranbook Academy of Art where she met and assisted Charles during the competition. The chair won first place, but was never in production. Years went by and still Ray and Charles kept trying to mass produce the chair.

Year later the chair eventually morphed into the two piece wooden chair we know today.

“machine esthetic”

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Mathematics

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Charles and Ray worked with large corporations such as IBM. In conjuction with IBM they created an exhibition entitled Mathmatica: A World of Numbers and Beyond. It was a place for interactive matematical exploration. The exhibit included two fifty-foot display walls and a collection of participatory displays covering the following concepts: celestial mechanics, the Mobius band, probability, topology, the laws of minimal surfaces, projective geometry, and multiplication.6

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“Design is a plan for arranging elements in such a way as best to accomplish a particular purpose”-Charles Eames 5

Eames style moves seamlessly into 21st century, Jul. 10, 2007, http://www.azcentral.com/style/hfe/decor/articles/2007/07/10/20070710hom_eames.html#ixzz1sa9X50oo

Pat Kirkham, Charles and Ray Eames Designers of the Twentieth Century (Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 1995)

George H. Marcus, Masters of Modern Design A Critical Assessment ( New York, NY: The Monacelli Press)

Designed by Cori KippinPrinted and bound by Cori Kippin, Port-land, Maine Composed in Monaco typeface, designed by Susan Kare and Kris Holmes & Prestige Elite Std created by Clayton Smith in 1953

ENDNOTES

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL

1. Eames style moves seamlessly into 21st century, Jul. 10, 2007, http://quotesondesign.com/ray-eames/2. The Films of Charles & Ray Eames September 11th, 2008, http://snoreandguzzle.com/?p=1493. Eames Office, www.eamesoffice.com/film4. Eames Office, www.eamesoffice.com5. Minds of Math, http://mindsofmath.com/About.html6. Minds of Math, http://mindsofmath.com/About.html