presentation describing Charles and Ray Eames with some important projects they did

1. CHARLES AND RAY EAMES
INT 474 Furniture Design and
Detailing
Assignment 2
Date of Submission:4-10-2016
Fatma Mohamed – 201210448
Dr. Konstantinos Predaris

2. BIOGRAPHY OF CHARLES
Charles and Ray Eames 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 in St. Louis, 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’s only
child, 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.

3. BIOGRAPHY OF RAY AND HOW
THEY MEET
Ray Kaiser Eames was born in 1912 in Sacramento, California. 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. During World
War II they were commissioned by the United States Navy to produce
molded plywood splints, stretchers, and experimental glider shells.

4. NEW LOOK IN FURNITURE STYLE
With a grand sense of adventure, Charles and Ray Eames turned
their curiosity and boundless enthusiasm into creations that established
them as a truly great husband-and-wife design team. Their unique synergy
led to a whole new look in furniture commonalities between
modernism and traditional design. Playful and functional. Sleek,
sophisticated, and beautifully simple. That was and is the "Eames look.“
started with molded plywood chairs in the late 1940s and includes
the world-renowned Eames lounge chair, now in the permanent collection
of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Charles dream was "to have people working on useless projects.
These have the germ of new concepts.“ and this concepts evolved over
time, not overnight. "Yes, it was a flash of inspiration," he said, "a kind of
30-year flash."

5. FOLLOWING THE SUCCESS
With these two, one thing always seemed to lead to another.
Their revolutionary work in molded plywood led to their breakthrough
work in molded fiberglass seating. A magazine contest led to their
highly innovative "Case Study" house. Their love of photography led
to film making, including a huge seven-screen presentation at the
Moscow World's Fair in 1959, in a dome designed by their friend and
colleague, Buckminster Fuller.
Graphic design led to showroom design, toy collecting to toy
inventing. And a wooden plank contraption, rigged up by their friend,
director Billy Wilder for taking naps, led to their acclaimed chaise
design.

7. PROJECTS
Elephant
1945. The couple first designed the elephant in
plywood but it never made it into mass production.
It's now available in plastic in a range of delightful
child friendly colors.
Aluminum Task Chair
1958. The Aluminum Task Chair is
part of a series of aluminum designs. It is a
truly timeless piece of furniture, and the
go-to chair for most high-end office
spaces to this day, it usually used in
offices.

8. PROJECTS
Lounger and Ottoman
1956. A true design classic, the lounger and
ottoman were designed as a gift for their friend Billy
Wilder.“ This luxury item was inspired by the
traditional English Club Chair. The Eames Lounge
Chair has become iconic with Modern style design,
The chair is composed of three curved plywood
shells: the headrest, the backrest and the seat. In
early production, beginning. The layers are glued
together and shaped under heat and pressure. Earlier
models are differentiated from newer models by the
sets of rubber spacers between the aluminum spines
and the wood panels first used in the earliest
production models, it still done by hands.
DAW Armchair
1950. The DAW (Dining Armchair Wooden) was
created for the Museum of Modern Art's 'Low Cost
Furniture Design' competition. The plastic armchairs
were later combined with various bases and sold in their
millions.
The chair legs are made out of beech wood.
Additionally, this white DAW replica chair has a steel wire
structure between the beech wood chair legs. This
construction keeps the legs together and gives the chair
a nice retro look.
The chair is easily assembled with a few
instructions. So take advantage now and order the DAW
replica chair in white online today.

9. PROJECTS
ESU Shelving
1949.The ESU (Eames Storage Unit) Shelving
Unit was designed as part of a system of free-
standing multi-functional pieces. Made for the
'Eames House. These free-standing shelves are
designed with wood
.
La Chaise
1948. Inspired by Gaston Lachais' sculpture 'Floating
Figure', La Chaise was designed for a competition held by
New York's Museum of Modern Art, "La Chaise" was one of
the Eames's first plastic creations, Comprised of two
bonded fiberglass shells, a chromed base, and natural oak
feet, the chair exhibits a captivating elegance and allows for
a wide range of sitting and reclining positions.

10. PROJECTS (LCW CHAIR)
LCW Chair
1940. The LCW (Lounge Chair
Wood) chair was made by molding
plywood and created for the Museum
of Modern Arts 'Organic Furniture
Competition', which of course it won.
The chair was designed using
technology for molding plywood.
RAR Chair
1950. The RAR (Rocking Armchair
Rod) chair is a variation of the Eames DSR
and DAW chairs but has runners on the
bottom to make it a rocking chair. Their
Molded Plastic chairs were originally
designed in metal and entered as a
prototype in1948 International Competition
for Low-Cost Furniture Design. They then
changed the material to fiberglass in 1950,
and today this rocker is made of recyclable
polypropylene.

11. PROJECTS
ESU Shelving Unit
1949. The ESU (Eames Storage Unit) Shelving Unit was designed as part of a system of free-standing multi-
functional pieces, which includes the EDU Desk Unit. Made for the 'Eames House', created for a design competition
run by a local magazine, Arts & Architecture: in its construction they used only readily available standardized
industrial components. These free-standing shelves are designed on the same principle.
The ESU shelving unit has become an icon of mid-century design. Reproducing Charles and Ray Eames original
design in a contemporary palette, this classic piece of modernist design adds a colorful dash of functional simplicity
to the home.

12. PROJECTS
ES104 Lobby Chair
1960. The ES104 Lobby Chair was originally designed for the lobby of the Rockefeller
Centre in New York and has gone on to be a true classic in offices around the world.
It consists of three individual cushions joined together by aluminum side frames. In the
following years, different versions were created that all have one fundamental thing in common.

13. PROJECTS
EDU Desk
1949. The EDU (Eames Desk Unit) Shelving Unit was designed as part of a system of free-
standing multi-functional pieces, which includes the ESU Storage Unit. Made for the 'Eames
House', created for a design competition run by a local magazine, Arts & Architecture: in its
construction they used only readily available standardized industrial components. These free-
standing shelves are designed on the same principle.
A carefully defined new color scheme was chosen to give the EDU a fresh and contemporary
look while still celebrating the spirit of the 1940s and '50s. With its eye-catching combination of
colored panels, the EDU desk adds a cheerful and inviting accent to the home office. The panels
also function as a modesty shield and partially enclose the two storage compartments. The metal
support frame is height-adjustable to accommodate uneven floors.

14. PROJECTS
DSR Chair
1948. The DSR (Dining Side Rod) chair was first presented at the New York Museum of Modern Art
competition 'Low-Cost Furniture Design'. It is one of a series of chairs that share the same seat shell
but have different bases and was the first plastic chair to be mass-produced.
The so-called Eiffel Tower base of the DSR chair, an intricate and graceful construction made of
steel wire, combines light, elegant forms with structural strength. The organically shaped plastic seat
shell is available in various colors and upholstery options, allowing this distinctive classic by Charles
and Ray Eames to be adapted to a wide range of individual needs and preferences.

15. OLD SKETCHES FOR THEM

16. HOW THEY INFLUENCE
CONTEMPORARY DESIGN

17. LCW (LOUNGE CHAIR WOOD)
Designed in: 1945
Manufacturer: Molded Plywood Division of the Evans Products Company, Venice,
California, for Herman Miller Furniture Company, Zeeland, Michigan
Material: ingredients: sheet, frame: molded plywood （ plywood ）
+ Walnut veneer Its a low seated easy chair designed by Charles
and Ray Eames.
The chair was designed using technology of molding plywood.

18. LCW (LOUNGE CHAIR WOOD)
In 1945, as the sense grew that the war was coming to a
close, the Eames Office, now two years old and some 15 people
strong (including the folks manufacturing the splints), turned its
attention back to furniture. The first experience of LCW chair in the
war was from metal leg and shorter than it should be, so this make it
hard to be used from injured soldiers, Dr. Wendel G. Scott, called to
their attention the fact that the Navy had no suitable leg splints for
injured soldiers. but Charles and Ray pushed harder than ever and
they never want to shay away from challenge to create a suitable
chair.
They shifted their focused to curving legs plants to the war
army, after the success of the chair, US copied 5000 version and this
money let them strongly return to chair design
They Created their own machine

19. LCW (LOUNGE CHAIR WOOD)
just over a year, Charles and Ray Eames were able to
produce appropriate prototypes, and in November 1942
received the Navy’s first order for 5,000 molded plywood leg
splints. Together with former colleagues, they set up a
production company and research lab, the Ply formed Wood
Company.
Further commissions followed from the army, and Charles
Eames became head of research in the Molded Plywood
Division at the Evans Product Company, which, among other
things, developed molded plywood parts for airplanes. He and
his staff acquired valuable technological experience which
proved useful when they began concentrating on civil projects
after the war was over.

21. HOW LCW CHAIR DONE
7 layers stacks of thin wood plies with veneer, half are passed
of into rollers where they receive an even amount of glue on both
sides, then sandwiched together by hand, alternating glue colored
sheets with dried ones, wood grains are crises- crossed for strength,
final outer layer, called fancy veneers made of high quality woods.

22. DESIGN DEVELOPMENT
Through extensive trial and error, Charles and Ray arrived at an
alternate solution: create two separate pieces for the seat and backrest,
joined by a plywood spine and supported by plywood legs. The result was a
chair with a sleek and honest appearance. All of the connections were visible
and the material was not hidden beneath upholstery. The seat was joined to
the spine and legs with a series of four heavy rubber washers with nuts
embedded in them . The shock mounts were glued to the underside of the
seat, and screwed in through the bottom of the chair. The backrest was also
attached using shock mounts. From the front and top the seat and back are
uninterrupted by fasteners. The rubber mounts were pliable, allowing the
backrest to flex and move with the sitter. This unique technology is also one
of the chair's greatest flaws. The shock mounts are glued to the wooden
backrest, but may tear free for various reasons. A common response to this
problem was to drill directly through the backrest and insert fasteners
between the backrest and the lumbar support. This greatly devalues the
chair, since it changes the original aesthetic of smooth, uninterrupted

23. DESIGN DEVELOPMENT
Even though the plywood chair was a compromise of the
Eames' vision to create a single shell chair it constituted a
successful design. In tandem with the LCW the Eames created a
family of plywood chairs, tables, and folding screens. The all-
plywood Dining Chair Wood (DCW) was constructed in the same
manner as the LCW, but with a narrower seat, and longer legs
to bring the seat up to dining height. The Lounge Chair Metal
(LCM) and Dining Chair Metal (DCM) were constructed of the
same plywood seats and backrests as the LCW & DCW set on a
welded metal frame. The success of 'The Plywood Group'
caught the attention of George Nelson, design director of
Herman Miller.
Coming out of an age where furniture was heavy and
complex; made from multiple materials and then covered in

24. MATERIALS AND
COLORS

26. INTERESTING THINGS...
"It is not that I'm embarrassed about “designer” so much as the
degree to which I prefer the word “architect”, I call myself a
tradesman, but any good tradesman should work only on problems
that come from genuine interest, and you solve a problem for your
client where your two interests overlap".
Charles Eames, 'Eames the architect and the painter.
' “Ray saw everything they didn't design as an extension of her
painting” ‘
Eames the architect and the painter.

27. INTERESTING THINGS...
“EVERYTHING I CAN DO, SHE CAN DO BETTER” Charles Eames,
'Eames: the Architect and the Painter‘
“Whoever said that pleasure was not functional”
Charles Eames, 'Eames

28. http://www.hermanmiller.com/designers/eames.html
http://www.eamesoffice.com/eames-office/charles-and-ray/
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/eame/hd_eame.htm
http://www.projecteames.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eames_Lounge_Chair_Wood
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eames_Lounge_Chair
http://www.eamesoffice.com/?s=DAW+Armchair
http://www.furnishspot.com/product/daw-replica-chair-white/
http://www.dwr.com/living-lounge-chairs/eames-molded-plastic-rocker-rar/850.html?lang=en_US
https://www.vitra.com/en-cz/product/eames-desk-unit-edu
https://www.vitra.com/en-pl/living/product/details/eames-plastic-side-chair-dsr
https://www.flickr.com/photos/cnewtoncom/536615759/in/photostream/
Videos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_EXZYqTe-Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4SF8dj_-64