The Herman Miller Showroom
In the fall of 1949 the Herman Miller Furniture Company Showroom opened its doors at 8806 Beverly Boulevard in West Hollywood. Herman Miller had been selling Eames furniture since 1946, ever since George Nelson (designer of the famous coconut chair) saw their work at the MoMA. Nelson managed to persuade D.J. De Pree, the president of the Herman Miller Company, of the huge commercial potential of the Eameses work. Eventually Herman Miller bought out Evans products company, who was initially producing the plywood line, which gave them the rights to the furniture designs. The showroom’s appearance is similar to Charles and Ray Eameses house they designed in 1945, case study #8, with its large concrete walls, steel frame and large front windows. It needed to serve primarily as a backdrop for the furniture, so was very simple in design and construction. The 5000sqft showroom was partitioned by photomural panels, and decorated with flowers, toys, plants, artwork and folk art, often on loan from the Eameses. This is one of few Eameses designs which is still standing, and being used today by design company Domus Design Comapny.
The remastered Eames Storage Unit (ESU)
Charles and Ray designed their ESU storage unit which was minimalist, affordable, practical, and all achieved using inexpensive materials. The design evolved from the plywood example which was displayed at the 1940 MoMA “Organic Design In Home Furnishings” exhibition and the new and improved version was publicly displayed at “An Exhibition For Modern Living”. In 1950 the units were showcased at the Herman Miller Showroom where they displayed diverse settings and storage options which could be used for domestic and commercial use. The units could easily be adapted in size, shape and colour to suit the requirements of the customer which is why they became so popular for both home and office use.
From fibreglass to plastic
The Eames chairs took took a drastic turn when the “plastics” technology of World War II became available to the postwar world. It was developed by the U.S. Air Force for making radar domes - fibreglass with a polyester plastic coating. Both Charles and Ray saw the huge potential that this new material could have on their chairs, and soon began designing the prototypes. The same method was used from the fibreglass collection they produced in 1948, which were also completely adaptable. Their were six different bases which could be used, including wooden legs, metal-rod legs, the “Eiffel Tower”, wire struts, the cast aluminium pedestal base on casters, and a rocker version. This didn't change when they changed the material from fibreglass to plastic, the customer could still choose according to their own particular needs. The invention of the plastics allowed the the Eames chair range to expand, they could now offer palette colours to the seat whilst also being easier to mass produce.
From Plastics to Wire-Mesh
The wire mesh chair was evolved from 1951–53 and is the same shape as the plastic side chair, and was designed to fit the same selection of six bases. The metal is weaved to from small squares to the back which gives the chair its strength. As with most Eames designs the chair was available in various configurations; fully upholstered, partially upholstered with padding that formed triangular seats and backs (known today as the bikini model), or no upholstery. There were six different materials to choose from: black or tan leather, tan cotton, vinyl, tweed hopsacking and harlequin print. The chairs were manufactured by Banner Metals of Compton and the wire mesh chairs were sold by Herman Miller from 1951–67 and reintroduced in 2001.
Charles and Ray’s love of toys
Charles and Ray’s love for toys has been shown through out their working career, from toy elephants to kites, they showed a playful yet style conscious view on all of their toy designs. In 1952, the Eameses designed the original House of Cards game, which displayed the duo’s appreciation for the uncommon beauty for common things. The slotted cards display rich assortment of photographs from the animal, vegetable and mineral kingdom on one side, and an asterisk on the other. The House of Cards is a deck of 54 regular sized cards, each card has six slots which can be interlocked to allow infinite spatial architectural variations. In addition to the “picture deck”, the Eameses initially made the cards in a “pattern deck” that featured photographs of textured or coloured surfaces, such as fabrics or Victorian decoupage. The toy was later made in larger sizes, the Giant House of Cards consisted of twenty cards, made using eight-ply cardboard that measured seven by eleven inches.
The 1956 creation of the Lounge Chair and Ottoman
Possibly one of the most iconic chairs of the 20th century is the Eameses Lounge chair, a design classic which is globally recognised. The chair required a combination of factory tooling and hand craftsmanship which made the chair expensive to produce. This went away from the Eameses ethos of affordable furniture for the people. Composed of three curved shells made of rosewood, the lounge chair was padded with black leather upholstery filled with foam, down, and duck feathers. The chair also came with a matching ottoman which was produced using the same technique. The five star aluminium swivel base, allowed both the chair, and stool to rotate 360 degrees. By 1975 Herman Miller had sold over 100,000 chairs and ottomans and they can still be purchased from the Herman Miller or Vitra catalogue now.
From Furniture to Film
The design duo are undoubtedly the most influential and successful husband and wife team of the 20th century. They were architects, furniture pioneers, textile designers, artists, photographers but also film starts. Their film career included their short film “Banana Leaf” (which was directed and filmed by Charles), Powers of Ten, numerous films for IBM while others were made at the orders of government organisations.
Each and every task the design duo set out to achieve they did so with passion, individuality and style. The Eames mark has been left on the creative world and will always be remembered, admired and loved.
This is the final part of a 4 part series on the Eamses. You can find the other chapters of this amazing story on our profile, as well as the stories of other iconic pieces and the designers that created them.
I’m James Broad, a lover of all things vintage and Co-founder of Intique, a marketplace with personality selling vintage and antique furniture with character.
