5 Iconic Eames Designs, In Honor Of Charles Eames' Birthday
From the iconic Eames House to the sought-after Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman that retails for more than $7,000 a pop
Those into design and architecture would know who Charles Eames is, but many of us would be more familiar with the designs he pioneered—one of them the iconic Charles and Ray Eames armchair that we would see in so many dentists’ office and waiting room areas in movies and in our lives.
But since it’s Charles Eames birthday today, June 17, and with Father’s Day coming up, let us get to know more about the man who helped shape—figuratively and quite literally—the industry and design of modern architecture and furniture.
Charles was one half of the iconic husband-and-wife duo, Charles and Ray Eames, who through the work of Eames Office designed some of the most historic and iconic silhouettes in the world of architecture and design. They were artists by heart and dabbled in so many fields—they wrote books, made motion pictures, and designed exhibitions, fabrics, and industrial and consumer products.
“We don’t do ‘art.’ We solve problems.” This was one of the mottos that governed the designs of Charles, who always prioritized function before form. But with the softness and creativity of Ray, they were able to come up with designs that were equally functional and aesthetically pleasing, changing the way the world approached design in the modern era.
One of their most significant contribution was their research on plywood—shaping it, molding it, and applying it in everyday use. In fact, it was plywood that Charles used when he was commissioned by the United States Navy to design contingencies and splints for World War II veterans. Taking his learnings from his WWII creations, he was then able to create the Eames Lounge Chair Wood (LCW) that would be dubbed the “the greatest design of 20th century” by Time Magazine.
To appreciate better the works and impact of Charles Eames on modern design and architecture, we’ve picked his 5 most iconic designs to represent his savvy for function, elegance, and comfort—the hallmarks of a truly beautiful and practical design.
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1. St. Mary’s Paragould
This church was one of the early pioneers in Charles’s career, and is one of the only two churches he designed in Arkansas. The Church community wanted to build a traditional church but with a limited budget, and Charles rose to that task. Stylistically, Eames was able to design St. Mary’s so that it was a modern reinterpretation of Romanesque Revival architecture.
Photo Credit: Eames Office
1. St. Mary’s Paragould
Outside, the red brick exterior makes the church look very traditional, but inside, everything is a bit more modern with the exposed buff brick and wooden beams. For the altar, they used Arkansas marble from Batesville. When St. Mary’s church made the National Register of Historic Places in 2015, one congregant said in an interview: “When you walk in our church, to me, it feels like it opens its arms and welcomes you in. I’ve had people from other parishes tell me it just looks peaceful. Even when we lived away from here, when I walked into this church, I felt like I was coming home.”
Photo Credit: Eames Office
2. World War II works
After Charles married Ray in 1941, they moved to California to start their research on molding plywood. During World War II, they were commissioned by the United States Navy to produce items for the servicemen, including aircraft parts, pilot seats, leg splints, and stretchers—all of them made from plywood.
Photo Credit: Eames Office
2. World War II works
Probably one of their widest reproduced solutions during the WWII are the leg splits. During that time, standard metal splints for wounded servicement were found to cause further injury because the metal bearers amplified vibrations in the brace. To address this, Charles worked with Ray to create the first Molded Plywood Splint—a splint that was conformed to the human leg so it offered ideal support through its natural form. It also featured holes to relieve the stress of the bent plywood and give the medic space to thread bandages and wrappings. By the end of the war, it was estimated that more than 150,000 of these splits were made and used.
Photo Credit: Eames Office
3. Eames Lounge Chair Wood (LCW)
Charles and Ray’s experience making items for the WWII eventually gave birth to the technology that created the iconic Eames Lounge Chair Wood (LCW). The LCW is a sleek and honest chair design that featured two pieces of molded plywood to make the seat and the backrest, joined together by a plywood spine and then rested on plywood legs. All the connections are visible and clean; no tricks to hide any imperfections.
Photo Credit: Rethinking the Future
3. Eames Lounge Chair Wood (LCW)
To date, the LCW continues to retail globally and in its 1999 millennium edition, it was called by Times Magazine “the greatest design of the 20th century.” Herman Miller is licensed to reproduce and create the LCW in a variety of wood veneers and upholsteries.
Photo Credit: Herman Miller
4. Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman
The dream chair of every father in his home. The Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman is the pinnacle of luxury and comfort, released by Charles and Ray in 1956 after years of development. The Lounge Chair and Ottoman set was the first chair that the couple designed for the higher end market, and to date, it continues to be a sought-after piece of furniture in every distinguished home.
Photo Credit: Rethinking the Future
4. Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman
This 2-piece chair builds on the plywood technology and design genius of the LCW, marrying the delicate shaping of wood and the luxurious finish of fine leather. Its design and craftsmanship have been revered for decades that examples of the chair are part of the permanent collection of New York's Museum of Modern Art. In popular culture, the chair has appeared in several movies and series like House, Frasier, Iron Man, Suits, and many more. One set of the Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman now retails at Herman Miller for $7,495.
Photo Credit: Herman Miller
5. Eames House
The iconic Eames House started as Case #8 of the roughly two dozen homes designed for The Case Study House Program by John Entenza, publisher of Arts & Architecture magazine from the 1940s to the early 1960s. Charles and Rey designed the Eames House working with the design brief that it was for “a married couple working in design and graphic arts, whose children were no longer living at home.” Shaped like a shoebox and built from glass and steel, the resulting home was an avant-garde masterpiece that from a distance, looks like a Mondrian painting. It was also the home where Charles and Ray spent their remaining years in until their deaths.
Photo Credit: Rethinking the Future
5. Eames House
Now, the Eames House is a US National Historic Landmark that draws visitors and tourists from all over the world. In 2004, Charles daughter, Lucia Eames, created a non-profit organization called the Eames Foundation to preserve the Eames House as a celebration of the creative legacy of Charles and Ray.
Photo Credit: Rethinking the Future
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