American designers Charles (1907-1978) and his wife Ray (1912-1988) Eames made major contributions in many fields of design including industrial design, furniture design, art, graphic design, film and architecture.
The couple married in 1941 and moved from Michigan, where they had met at Cranbrook Univeristy, to Los Angeles and established an office together.
They got their first big break in 1942 when the US navy placed an order for 5,000 splints that they had made from a mould of Charles’ own leg.
Having moved into a rented studio on nearby Santa Monica Boulevard, the couple continued their experiments in plywood producing furniture such as the Plywood Chair (1945), sculptures and even toys.
After plywood, the Eames focused on projects with other materials by creating furniture in fibreglass, plastic, aluminium and, for the 1956 Lounge Chair, which was designed as a gift for director Billy Wilder, leather and a rich plywood.
It was their experiments with fibreglass that led to the production of one of their most recognisable pieces still today: the Eames plastic armchair.
The Eames plastic armchair was first presented in 1948 at the New York Museum of Modern Art’s ‘Low cost furniture design’ competition. The comfortable shell, made of fibreglass-reinforced plastic, was combined with a variety of bases to create different looks.
The Eames' furniture, especially office chairs such as the Lounge and Aluminium Series are today synonymous with mid-20th century corporate America.
Charles died in 1978 with Ray dying of cancer on 21 August 1988, ten years to the day after Charles.