Celebrating 100 years from the birth of Ray Eames by Anca on Dec 15. 2012 Design around London, Our famous Designers
What better occasion to have a look at the design creations of Ray and Charles Eames than the 100th birthday celebration of Ray on December 15, 2012. Celebrate Ray’s life and work as a painter, furniture and textile designer…
Ray-Bernice Alexandra Kaiser was born in 1912 in Sacramento, California, but moved to New York City to study abstract expressionist painting with Hans Hofmann. She came from a creative middle-class family, her father used to be a theatre manager. After she met and married Charles Eames, they moved to Los Angeles, California where they started working together.
Ray had a passion for textile designs and in 1940s she created “Crosspatch” and “Sea Things”, which were produced by Schiffer Prints, a company that also produced textiles by Salvador Dalí and Frank Lloyd Wright.
“I never thought of myself as an artist and couldn’t bear the word,” said Ray in an interview in 1980. But she was a great artist. Have a look below at some of Ray and Charles Eames’ best furniture ideas.
LCW Plywood Low Chairs
Plywood Group LCW chairs are the result of numerous years of experimenting with new processes for optimizing the way three-dimensionally moulded plywood fits the contours of the body. After Charles and Ray Eames moved into their new LA home, they got a home-made moulding machine and produced their first mass-manufactured product, a plywood leg splint based on a plaster mould of Charles’ own leg.
Eames Lounge Chair and Footstool
The Eames Lounge Chair combines the utmost comfort with high-end materials and high-quality finishing. According to the designers, the lounge chair conveys the impression of a ”soft, well-used baseball glove” – and is available from Vitra in a range of leathers.
DAW Eames Plastic Armchair
DAW Eames Plastic Armchair was first presented by the Eames couple as part of a New York Museum of Modern Art competition “Low Cost Furniture Design”. Plastic armchairs organically shaped plastic seat shells were later combined with various different bases and manufactured in their millions.
