Vitra Eames DSR

Da vi for nylig var på en lille rejse fik vi øje på en ægte Eames fiberglasbænk fra Herman Miller i en lufthavn.  Tager man stedets ret begrænsede faciliteter i betragning, forekommer betegnelsen ‘lufthavn’ faktisk noget optimistisk, og vores hektiske fotografering af bænken og Herman Miller-klistermærkerne resulterede også i en del latter fra folk omkring os – altså folk, som bruger deres tid på at fotografere fly!!

Herefter, da vi var faldet lidt ned efter den hektiske fotografering, begyndte vi at reflektere lidt over Charles og Ray Eames og deres glasfiber/plaststole.

I mange år var Charles og Ray Eames optaget af idéen om en sædeskal som støttede kroppen optimalt, og efter flere forgæves forsøg med krydsfinér og aluminiumsplader vendte parret tilbage til fiberglas. Charles havde sammen med sin ven og mentor Eero Saarinen skabt ‘Organic Chair‘, også kendt som ‘The Conversation Chair’ (‘Samtalestolen’), i forbindelse med konkurrencen ‘Organic Design in Home Furnishings’ i 1940 på Museum of Modern Art (MoMa) i New York.

Det var dog først i slutningen af 1940′erne at produktionsteknologien kom til at fungere således at det kunne betale sig, rent økonomisk, at fremstille stolene i et passede stort antal. I 1950 blev de to fiberglasstole, begge revolutionære for deres tid, tilgængelige på markedet – A-skallen med armlæn og S-skallen uden.

Vitra Eames PACC

Det helt geniale ved Charles og Ray Eames og deres design kommer dog først i deres næste designfase. Efter at have designet de to sædeskaller, fremstilles der herefter en række basisstel til at placere skallerne på – et wirestel, et træstel, et ‘X-stel’ af forkromet stål, samt et stel på kuglehjul, og i 1955 blev samlingen udvidet med et stålstel der var egnet til stabling. Således skabte Charles og Ray Eames en familie af stole, hvor stellet kan tilpasses efter både hvor og hvordan stolen anvendes, mens selve sædet forbliver den samme velkendte model.
Eames skabte ligeledes en vidunderligt simpel terminologi for deres fiberglasstole. Eksempelvis har ‘Eames DSR – Dining height Side chair Rod base’ og ‘Eames DSW – Dining height Side chair Wood base’ samme S-skal, men forskellige typer stel. Tilsvarende kan steltypen hos DSX, PACC eller DAW ligeledes udledes af navnet.

I 1957 fik Vitra licens til at producere Eamesmøbler i Europa, og på dette tidspunkt var rækken af glasfiberstole allerede på vej til at blive en ægte møbelklassisker i det 20. århundrede.

Vitra Eames RAR

I 1992 skiftede Herman Miller og Vitra produktionsmaterialet ud, og gik fra glasfiber over til i stedet at fremstille stolene i det miljøvenlige plastmateriale polypropylen. Design og form forbliver uændret, mens de miljømæssige konsekvenser af produktionen reduceres. Med deres høje, fleksible rygstøtter, dybe ‘sidelommer’ og vandfaldslignende frontkant tilbyder plastikstolen fra Eames en komfortabel siddeoplevelse, både hvis det blot drejer sig om et par minutter på kontoret, ved spisebordet under aftensmaden eller ved et længerevarende arrangement.
Charles og Ray Eames kunne gennem denne stoleserie realisere et af deres vigtigste mål for design: “Det meste af det bedste, til det største antal mennesker, for så lidt som muligt”  (“The most of the best to the greatest number of people for the least”)

(smow) tilbyder følgende udgaver af plasticstolene fra Eames:

Eames DSR : Dining Height Side Chair Rod Base (Spisebordsstol med wirestel)

Eames RAR : Rocking Armchair Rod Base (Gyngestol med armlæn og wirestel )

Eames DSX : Dining Height Side Chair X-Base (Spisebordsstol med X-stel af stål)

Eames DAW : Dining Height Armchair Wooden Base (Spisebordsstol med armlæn og træstel)

Eames DAR : Dining Height Armchair Rod Base (Spisebordsstol med armlæn og wirestel)

Eames DSW : Dining Height Side Chair Wood Base (Spisebordsstol med træstel)

Eames DAX : Dining Height Armchair X-Base (Spisebordsstol med armlæn og X-stel af stål)

Eames DSS-N/DSS : Dining Height Side Chair Stacking Base (Spisebordsstol med X-stel af stål, kan stables)

Eames PACC : Pivot Armchair Cast Base on Castors (Kontorstol med armlæn og kuglehul)

Eames PSCC : Pivot Side Chair Cast Base on Castors (Kontorstol uden armlæn, med kuglehjul)

Eames DSR from Vitra

On a recent trip we discovered a genuine Herman Miller Eames fibreglass chair bench at an airport. Being a relatively small airport – in fact so small that the word “airport” appears optimistic in describing it’s capabilities – our frenzied photographing of the chairs and the Herman Miller stickers caused quite a lot of amusement.
And that among individuals who spend their spare time photographing aircraft!!!

Anyway, once we’d calmed down a little we started reflecting a little on Charles and Ray Eames and their fibreglass/plastic chairs.

For many years the concept of a seating shell that perfectly supported the body was a pre-occupation of Charles and Ray Eames. Following unsuccessful attempts with plywood and sheet aluminum the pair returned, as it were, fibreglass. Charles had, together with his friend and mentor Eero Saarinen created the Organic Chair, also known as the Conversation Chair, for the 1940 “Organic Design in Home Furnishings” competition at the New York Museum of Modern Art (MoMa). However, only now in the late 1940s was the production technology such that fibreglass chairs could be produced economically and in suitably large numbers. In 1950 the two, for their time revolutionary, Eames fibreglass chair shells appeared on the market: the A-shell, with armrests, and the S-shell, without armrests.

PACC by Charles and Ray Eames from Vitra

The genius of Charles and Ray Eames, however, comes in the next stage. Having designed two shells the designers then created a range of bases on which to place the shells; namely, the rod (wire) base, the wooden base, the X-base and the cast base on castors. In1955 the range was extended with a stackable base. Thus Charles and Ray Eames created a seating family where the base can be chosen to fit location, use and function while the seat remains the same familiar, comfortable shell.

The Eames’s also created a wonderfully simply nomenclature for their fibreglass chairs. And so one has, for example the Eames DSR – Dining height Side chair Rod base – and the DSW – Dining height Side chair Wood base.  Both have the same S-shell, vary however in terms of the base. Similarly the form of the DSX, PACC or DAW can be deduced from the name.

By 1957 when Vitra received the license to produce the work of Charles and Ray Eames in Europe, the fibreglass chair range was well on its way to becoming a true classic of 20th century furniture design.

RAR by Charles and Ray Eames from Vitra

In 1992 both Herman Miller and Vitra switched production from fibreglass to polypropylene: the design and form remain the same, just the environmental impact of production and disposal is reduced.

With their high, flexible backs, deep seat pockets, and waterfall front edges the Eames plastic chair range offer a comfortable seating experience  – be it for a couple of minutes in an office, for the duration of a meal or a longer evening at a concert of other social event.

But much more importantly, through the plastic chair series Charles and Ray Eames could realise one of their principle design aims; “The most of the best to the greatest number of people for the least”

smow offer the following variations of the plastic chair by Charles and Ray Eames:

Eames DSR : Dining Height Side Chair Rod Base

RAR : Rocking Armchair Rod Base

DSX : Dining Height Side Chair X-Base

DAW : Dining Height Armchair Wooden Base

DAR : Dining Height Armchair Rod Base

DSW : Dining Height Side Chair Wood Base

DAX : Dining Height Armchair X-Base

DSS-N/DSS : Dining Height Side Chair Stacking Base (available with or without connecting element)

PACC : Pivot Armchair Cast Base on Castors

PSCC : Pivot Side Chair Cast Base on Castors