The legendary designs of Charles Eames

Charles Eames was born in St.Louis Missouri in the year 1907. His Uncle was the St.Louis Architect William S.Eames. He had a knack right from his childhood into designing and architecture. When he has only 14 years old, he was both studying and doubling up as a laborer at the Laclede Steel Company. His stint at the steel company’s works helped him immensely to understand the finer points about designing, materials and architecture. He started believing tat one day he will too become an architect much like his uncle.

Later on he started his own practice in 1930 with Charles M Gray. Later on he moved to Michigan with family at the behest of Eliel Saarinen whom he used to admire a lot. He started advance his knowledge of architecture at the Cranbrook Academy of Art. Later on he went on to become a teacher at the same academy and even head the department of industrial designing. Charles and Eliel Saarinen’s son Eero designed some highly acclaimed furniture at the New York’s Museum of modern art’s competition titled "Organic Design in Home Furnishings.

Charles pioneered designs in many areas including fiberglass, plastic and resin creating wonderful designs in chairs and other furniture. In the early part of 1940 Charles Eames was experimenting with the technology of wood molding with his wife Ray Eames. He was on an assignment with the set designing of MGM and that lead to the inventing of the molded dining chairs later on. His discovery of wood molding also led to his receiving a commission from the United States Navy to design and develop splints, stretchers and also glider shells for their war effort during the Second World War. After the war was won by the allied army, his discovery went into the designing of the molded sitting chairs. Charles had originally desired to create a chair backrest and leg rest using a single wooden panel molded using heat. However the pane did not withstand the severe pressure. Thus he decided to opt for a two piece chair where there would be separate wooden panels for the backrest and the leg rest. This would thus create a chair that is lightweight and have the shapely contours of a human back which increased the comfort level and also reduced the appearance of the chair as a unit. He also designed the Eames dining chairs in collaboration with Herman Miller and their legendary cooperation won them the best design of the 20th Century award by Time Magazine.

Charles designs are now being recreated using modern day technology and the charm and demand of those age old designs are to be seen to be believed. For example the Eames DSW. These are basically dining height side wood chairs. Charles designed them in 1950 for the New York’s Museum of Modern Art’ low cost furniture design competition and later on became the first industrially manufactured plastic chairs. Charles Eames’ designs have truly defied time in terms of their beauty, applicability and comfort and the Eames Chairs remains till today the finest specimens of designing.