Ray and Charles Eames Screening Notes:
- Charles & Ray Eames were driven by curiosity
- Introduced people to look at the world differently
- Charles an architect and designer (dropped out of architecture school)
- famous for post-war furniture designs
- Ray (wife) was originally a painter; she worked along side Charles
- Charles' career began with the design of the Eames chair
- Won best of show in contest
- made of molded plywood
- Though considered a failure at first due to its impossibility to reproduce
- Charles and Ray search for answer to make it mass-producable, inexpensive
- they focus on the design of the mechanics of the chair rather than the design
- Created the "kazaam" which was a homemade machine used for the molding process of the chair
- The Eames' created splints for wounded warriors in WWII, used the splints design technique to reinvent the Eames chair.
- new splint design acted as inspiration to another chair design attempt
- more openings, not as solid
- composed of plywood
- icon of modernism
- Charles and Ray design line of plywood furniture
- "the best for the most for the least"
- very successful
- Herman Miller Furniture Company:
- "Wanted to make the best for the most for the least" was the mindset of Charles, who sold his furniture through Herman Miller
- Became one of the most profitable organizations in the wake of WWII
- Charles depended on Ray's aesthetic genius:
- Ray was more artistic minded
- Charles depended on her aesthetic skills
- Eames House excellent example of 20th Century modern architecture:
- Charles and Sarreinman designed their house
- Ended up redesigning based on factors created by meadow
- Known as the Bridge House
- Open, uncluttered spaces, full of natural light; interior decorated with everyday objects in unusual ways (paintings suspended from ceiling, etc.); all aspects of the home a canvas in which the Eames' took full advantage
- Eames films:
- Depicts beauty of everyday objects
- Film was viewed as a tool, not as art during this time
- Forget Me Not: propaganda film shown to Russian population during Cold War era
- Forget-me-nots a universal symbol of friendship
- Most famous film: Powers of Ten
- Moscow Show set them apart as more than just furniture designers
- Charles and Ray died ten years apart after solidifying their roles as pioneers of the Information era
- Unified beauty that reached a broad audience
- Ray also became known as one of the most influential women of design
- ground breaking - women had stood behind their husbands, not in front like Ray
