On December 15th 2012 Ray Bernice Alexandra Kaiser Eames would have celebrated her 100th birthday.

Born in Sacramento California, Ray Kaiser attended the May Friend Bennet School in Millbrook before in 1933 she moved to Manhattan where she studied painting under the  tutorship of the German Abstractionist Hans Hofmann; and consequently found herself at the centre of the burgeoning abstract art scene in late 1930s New York. A highpoint of which was her participation in the inaugural American Abstract Artists group exhibition in 1937.

In the summer of 1940 Ray Kaiser spent  four months at Cranbrook Academy of Art where, in addition to studying, she assisted Charles Eames and Eero Saarinen with their preparations for the New York Museum of Modern Art’s “Organic Furniture Competition.”

In 1941 Charles Eames and Ray Kaiser married.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Except of course. It isn’t.

The power and visual imagery of furniture design icons such as the Eames Lounge Chair or the Aluminium Chair Group make it all but impossible to imagine Charles and Ray Eames as separate entities. However, they were.

Following their wedding Charles and Ray Eames moved to Los Angeles to continue the research with moulded plywood Charles had began in Cranbrook with Eero Saarinen. Money being tight Charles took on freelance work, largely in the movie industry, while Ray continued with her artistic/graphic design pursuits creating covers for the avant-garde orientated magazine California Arts and Architecture. This period also saw Ray Eames create numerous textile designs including “Circles”, “Crosspatch” and the numerous variations on the “Dot Pattern”- all of which have recently been reissued by Mahram. Indeed the briefest of trawls through the Eames Archive produces a canon of work credited to Ray Eames that would suffice most designers for a whole career.

For Ray Eames it was however just the beginnings.

Over the years the relationship developed such that the borders between the two became ever more diffuse and by the 1950s all projects are officially Charles and Ray. Not least because they were. By popular convention Charles took on the technical aspects while Ray concentrated on the more aesthetic parts.

A particular good example is the so called “Eames House” the pair designed in 1949 as part of the California Arts and Architecture sponsored “Case Study House Program”. Ray Eames was responsible for the interior featuring a carefully considered mismatch of textiles, ornaments, junk, etc… A concept that although now understood as part of the Eames “Collage” philosophy, at the time was heavily criticised as standing in direct opposition to the ideals of Modernism that pair claimed to follow, and whose influence can be seen in the Eames House itself. With the benefit of 60 plus years hindsight one can now understand Ray’s intention as reclaiming the living space from the clinical control of modernism. Separating building from contents, architecture from design. Something which of course helped paved the way for what we, or at least Americans, understand today as mid-century modern. For which we can all be thankful.

And also means that, in effect, it is Ray Eames who we have to thank for all the playful objects one associates with Charles and Ray Eames, including most famously the Eames House Bird – the original of which stood in the Los Angeles Eames House.

(If we’re also to be thankful to Ray for indirectly inspiring Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec to create L’Oiseau is something for another post.)

Following the death of Charles Eames in 1978 Ray Eames immediately closed the Eames Studio and devoted herself to archiving the pairs work and collections.

Ray Eames died on August 21st 1988. Ten years to the day after her husband.

While obviously everyone is grateful for the objects, films, photos, etc that Ray and Charles Eames gave the world, it is also slightly regrettable that the individual talents of the two should be so heavily shrouded by their joint success.

And so we can think of no better way to celebrate Ray Eames’ centenary than by encouraging you all to investigate the works and talents of a remarkable artist and designer.

You wont be disappointed!

Happy 100th Birthday Ray Eames. here with her textile patter: "Dots"

The cover of "California Arts and Architecture, April 1943" by Ray Eames: Includes the start of the competition "Designs for Postwar Living

(Both images are taken from “The Work of Charles and Ray Eames: A Legacy of Invention”. Library of Congress. http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/eames/bio.html Accessed 14.12.2012)

Design for Use, USA. The cover of Alexander Girard's catalogue.

“Wooden spoon for pickled vegetables by John F. Kennedy”

? ? ?

John F. Kennedy. Green Mountain Woodcrafters, Vermont.

And no relation of Teddy or Robert.

Still cheered us up.

From March 20th until April 25th 1951 Stuttgart hosted the first post-war exhibition of modern American home furnishings and appliances in Europe.

Organised by the New York Museum of Modern Art under the title “Design for Use, USA”, the exhibition featured a cross section of American domestic design.

And a Who’s Who of mid 20th century American designers: Charles Eames. George Nakashima. Ray Eames. George Nelson. Eero Saarinen. Isamu Noguchi. Etcetera.

All presented in an exhibition concept and catalogue designed by Alexander Girard.

Aside from the very appetising list of objects displayed, the exhibition was and is interesting for a number of reasons.

Firstly because it took place some two years before Willi and Erika Fehlbaum made their fateful trip to New York; from which they returned with the seeds of Vitra in their hand luggage.

Imagine. Just for a second. If someone in Stuttgart had shown a little more entrepreneurial spirit.

No Vitra.

Which is an important lesson in grabbing the opportunity when it presents itself.

Secondly, the exhibition arguably kick-started the designer furniture industry in post-war Europe.

In her article “The “Advance” of American Postwar Design in Europe: MoMA and the Design for Use, USA Exhibition 1951–1953″¹ Gay Mcdonald argues that the whole exercise was simply concerned with promoting Americana in Europe in the context of the Marshall Plan. And when you read the original 1951 MoMa press release² its hard to disagree.

Doesn’t interest us.

As far as we’re aware Americans have always been obsessed with exporting their culture to the rest of the world. Be it blue jeans, hamburgers or oppressive security concepts in the name of freedom.

And of course they famously invented their own sports rather than assimilate those from other cultures.

But we trust that most Europeans, and indeed most Americans, are intelligent enough to form their own conclusions and opinions.

And so regardless of the motives, we find the exhibition was the right thing at the right time. At that period America, untouched by the war, was the motor of world product design. And MoMa was unquestionably the institution playing the biggest role in promoting American design innovation.

In 1951 most of Europe was busy re-building and was greatly in need of quick, efficient housing and furnishing solutions.

Ergo, let MoMa bring the best America has to offer to Europe. And let us take inspiration from those bits we like.

"Upholstered chair" by George Nelson for Herman Miller from the Design for Use, USA catalogue

Gay Mcdonald quotes a source as stating that some 60,000 visitors attended the exhibition. That may not sound much; but one must remember that it was 1951. There were no budget airlines offering 20p flights to Stuttgart. And also a lot less “design industry”.

The aforementioned Vitra was still an inconsequential shop fitting company in Basel.

And so 60,00 is fantastic.

What is sadly not documented is who went and what they took away with them.

For just as every important and influential Manchester band of the late 1970s and early-to-mid 1980s can trace their origins back to 4th June 1976 and the Sex Pistols concert at the Lesser Free Trade Hall; we romantically hope that “Design for Use, USA” shaped European furniture design of the 50s and 60s.

However, without the documentation one can only conject on the long-term effect that the exhibition had on those who visited.

After Stuttgart the exhibition continued through Europe with stops in London, Paris, Zürich and the Milan Triennale.

The fact that no-one took the opportunity to organise European production licenses indicating that, maybe, it was all just too new. Too different.

However, it conceivably began a sensitising process that paved the way for Vitra to successfully launch the works of Eames, Nelson, Noguchi et al in 1957.

And indeed for Wilde + Spieth to successfully market Egon Eiermann’s chairs. Egon Eiermann began publicly working towards mass market furniture when he participated in the “Wie Wohnen ?” exhibition that took place in Stuttgart and Karlsruhe in 1949/50. Many of his designs however originated from the mid-1940s, and Eiermann was undoubtedly influenced by what he was reading from America in the specialist publications of the time.

We’re not saying he was copying. But Eiermann and Eames were certainly researching and experimenting in similar directions. Eames albeit a little quicker and more successfully.

Yet in 1951, only few industry figures would have been aware of this, and indeed in 1951 Eiermann’s SE 3 (the current SE 42),  allegedly, only sold some 153 times. And principally to architects. ³ Over the next decade however not only did the sales figure dramatically improve; but Eiermann’s chair designs – with their undeniable “Hint of Eames” – advanced to become European design classics.

But again we can’t actually prove that Design for Use, USA helped.

A RAR and and ESU Bookcase by Charles and Ray Eames as depicted in the Design for Use, USA catalogue

In addition to paving the way for a new understanding of home furnishings, “Design for Use, USA” also introduced Europe to new technological and business model initiatives; we started moulding plastics and established designer furniture producers in the style of Hermann Miller. But we did it in European way.

We, for example, have no confirmed information that Arne Jacobsen attended the exhibition; but undeniable is how passionately he embraced the use of synthetic materials appearing on the market throughout the 1950s and 60s. And how expertly he fused them with the best traditions of Danish handwork. The Egg and Swan perhaps standing as the best examples.

And so while we admittedly lack the documentation, there is more than enough circumstantial evidence to indicate that without “Design for Use, USA”  it would have taken the European furniture industry a little longer to find its feet.

And with potentially less interesting products.

What we can’t predict however is how the Kennedy dynasty would look today if they had concentrated on pickle spoon design rather than politics.

The Slinky by Richard T James: was also part of the Design for Use, USA exhibition

1. Gay McDonald “The “Advance” of American Postwar Design in Europe: MoMA and the Design for Use, USA Exhibition 1951–1953″ Design Issues: Volume 24, Number 2 Spring 2008. Pages 15-27

2. “MUSEUM’S “DESIGN FOR USE, U.S.A.” EXHIBITION SAILED FOR EUROPE JANUARY 5″ http://www.moma.org/docs/press_archives/1483/releases/MOMA_1951_0001_1951-01-04_510104-1.pdf

3. Arthur Mehlstäubler “Egon Eiermann – der deutsche Eames?” in Egon Eiermann (1904 – 1970)

As many of you will be aware, the construction of the VitraHaus was not without it’s controversy.

For all the decision to paint the outer walls black.

We at (smow)blog can however exclusively reveal that other options were considered.

And below we publish exclusive pictures of the rejected colour schemes.

VitraHaus in Hella Jongerius Polder sofa look

Berlin based, Dutch designer Hella Jongerius has created the Vitra Colour Laboratory to help encourage VitraHaus visitors to be more imaginative and creative in their use of colour. One version of the VitraHaus colour scheme played with Jongerius’ Polder Sofa colour scheme.

VitraHaus with an Algue by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec finish

Breton brothers Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec‘s classic Algue room divider was also considered as a possible colour scheme for the outer walls of the VitraHaus. Was however rejected owing to the number of Bouroullec items that are on display inside the VitraHaus.

VitraHaus a la Kast by Maarten van Severen

Belgian designer Maarten van Severen is one of the real “in house” favourites at Vitra, and a man whose time came far too soon. As a tribute to one of the true legends of Belgian design a colour scheme was created that paid homage to Maarten van Severen’s Kast shelving unit.

VitraHaus in Verner Panton Panton Chair classic red

The cooperation between Vitra and Danish designer Verner Panton opened a whole chapter in the Vitra story; the creation of specially commissioned pieces in collaboration between Vitra and the designer. In honour of the life and work of Verner Panton the possibility of painting the outer walls of the VitraHaus in Panton Chair classic red was considered.

VitraHaus from Vitra as a homage to Charles and Ray Eames

No two people are more intimately associated with the Vitra story than Charles and Ray Eames. And so it was no surprise that one of Ray Eames’ classic textile designs – namely small dot pattern – should be considered for use on the outer walls of the VitraHaus.

In the end, black won through as the outer colour of the VitraHaus…. but it could all have been so different…

VitraHaus as it could have been: In Millerstripe Multicolored Bright by Alexander Girard finish

Zeeland, Michigan, 1969

The EA 107 from the Charles and Ray Eames aluminium chair range through Vitra

Ten years ago Charles and Ray Eames revolutionised the world of chair design with their “aluminium Chair” range. And now they hope to do it again.

In one of the most eagerly anticipated announcements of the year, Charles and Ray Eames today unveiled their new product range: soft Pad

“soft Pad is our most advanced technology in a magical and revolutionary device” declared a proud Charles Eames as he unveiled the new range to the specially invited journalists in the Yerba Buena Center in Zeeland, Michigan

With the soft Pad  Charles and Ray Eames have retained the familiar aluminium Chair frames, but added a range of new features: principally individually upholstered, 2 and 3/4 inch cushions. The cushions, so Eames, contrast with the sleek aluminium profile to create a softer, more opulent chair that still maintains the transparency and clarity of the original aluminium Chair.

The EA 207 from Charles and Ray Eames new soft Pad range through Vitra

In addition Eames hope to expand on the success of the some 140,000 “apps” available for the aluminium Chairs and which are available over the so called aluminium Chair appsStore; including the popular foot stool and facebookapps

Critics have however highlighted the lack of USB ports and the fact that the new soft Pad doesn’t support flash as drawbacks. Charles and Ray Eames however remained upbeat and predict that the new soft Pad will find great resonance amongst consumers, will eventually become a design classic produced in Europe by Vitra and be available for purchase on the Internet.

It all started with “boutique” hotels. which, if one is brutally honest, were simply small hotels. Or guest houses as we used to call them. Back in the day.

Then slowly, ever so slowly the term “design hotels” emerged and today – whether used to describe a hotel where each room has it’s own “identity” or an establishment furnished with designer furniture – design hotels represent an important part of the accommodation repertoire, and tourist marketing concept, of all major cities.
As with so much in life, the concept is however far from new.

Room 606 at the SAS Royal in Copenhagen. Designed by Arne Jacobsen

One of the first design hotels was the SAS Royal in Copenhagen: and its status as design hotel owes less to marketing and much more to the character of the architect – Arne Jacobsen. The old master of Danish design was happiest when in complete control of a project, and often insisted on creating the interiors and furnishings for his buildings. As with the SAS Royal. Jacobsen’s famous Egg and Swan chairs – a ubiquitous feature of many design hotels today – were created specially for the lobby of the SAS Royal, and even the door handles are true design classics.

At the time of its completion in 1960 the hotel was the largest building in Scandinavia and set new architectural and aesthetic standards. And almost 50 years later the hotel retains both its charm, importance and completeness as the perfect match of building and contents.

Few modern “design hotels” come close to matching Jacobsen’s masterpiece, simply because the idea evolves from the wrong direction and with the wrong intention. Or perhaps more succinctly; they simply exist to make money.

Berge in Aschau im Chiemgau, Germany

One modern establishment that does compare to Jacobsen’s vision is Berge; a harbourage for weary souls in southern Germany that was created very much in the character of its designer Nils Holger Moormann.

Essentially a collection of self catering flats at the foot of the alps, Berge embodies the Moormann philosophy of simple luxury and of finding your own pleasure in items and situations rather than having it force feed by an omnipotent media. And of going your own way.

In contrast to most hotels, Moormann boasts loudly that Berge has no WiFi, that the beds are narrow and that the mobile telephone reception is poor. Technically disadvantages in the modern mass tourist world, in Nils Holger Moormann’s world they become the raison d’etre to check- in.

The room Hohe Kammer in Berge with its mix of Moormann and Vitra DSR

Whereas in Copenhagen all rooms are identical and are furnished with the works of Arne Jacobsen, in Aschau im Chiemgau each room has it’s own style and identity. In addition the furniture reflects a more eclectic vision, combining a mix of Moorman products and other design classics such as the Vitra DSR by Charles and Ray Eames. A brave decision from a company that makes their money selling furniture, and certainly not something that Arne Jacobsen would have approved of.

And because the project is based on principle rather than naked profit, the balance between building and contents is retained just as perfectly as at the SAS Royal.

The design hotel is here to stay and will continue to excite and amuse the millions of budget airline city-breakers who fill their rooms every weekend. Whereas the work of Arne Jacobsen has become synonymous with the concept, Berge is likely to remain a solitary example of its type. Something which will no doubt please Nils Holger Moormann just as much as it would have Arne Jacobsen.

In the world of designer furniture there are few designers for who “home” and “family” played such a central role as Charles and Ray Eames.

From the design of their “Eames House” as a combined living and working space for a young family and on through their many works for and with children, Charles and Ray Eames always presented themselves as “domestic” rather than “industrial” designers.

And so it is little wonder that so many of their designs can be so easily recommended as Christmas gifts.

Eames DSR from Vitra

Eames DSR

The Dining Height Side Chair Rod Base (DSR) is part of Charles and Ray Eames’ 1950s fibreglass collection. Although produced today by Vitra in polypropylenethe it is the same basic design that infatuated post war America. Whether as a set around a table or an individual piece for bedroom/bathroom/shed, the Vitra DSR by Charles and Ray Eames makes a welcome addition to any home or office.

Hang it All by Charles and Ray Eames through Vitra

Hang it All

Guaranteed to delight young and old alike; with its multi-coloured balls and irregular form Charles and Ray Eames’ Hang it All is a true classic of 1950s design and has served as an inspiration to scores of designers since.

Eams Elephant by Charles and Ray Eames for Vitra

Eames Elephant

Perhaps the definitive expression of Charles and Ray Eames child orientated work is the Eames Elephant.  Originally created in plywood, the Elephant never entered mass production during the Eames’ lifetime; the Vitra Design Museum reedition in plastic is therefore the first time the object has been available for all. Stable, secure and fun the Eames Elephant is the perfect gift for all children.

Lounge Chair and Ottoman

Those looking for that little something extra – or a gift that spreads itself out over several years – need look no further than the Eames Lounge Chair. The very epitome of Charles and Ray Eames design work, and one of the best known post-war American designs, the Eames Lounge Chair is designed to absorb and pamper the sitter. And together with the Ottoman the experience is even better.

Eames Lounge Chair from vitra

Today is World Usability Day.

We do admit to be being more than a touch sceptical about the motivations that lead people to establish events such as “Global Avocado Day”, “Bulgarian Aramaic Appreciation Week”, or indeed “World Usability Day”, but we can’t help agreeing with the preamble to their charter.
(Without endorsing the charter, per se):

Human error is a misnomer.  Technology today is too hard to use. A cell phone should be as easy-to-use as a doorknob. In order to humanize a world that uses technology as an infrastructure for education, healthcare, government, communication, entertainment, work, and other areas, we must agree to develop technologies in a way that serves people first.

In terms of furniture design we couldn’t agree more and, indeed, in these pages have often argued for clear, defined and properly thought through design.

The work of Charles and Ray Eames, Jasper Morrison, Philippe Starck or Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec wonderfully reflects what can be achieved with the minimum of fuss and unnecessary cleverness.
And so for our contribution to World Usability Day 2009 here are the 10 Design Principles from the doyen of German Industrial Design Dieter Rams:

* Good design is innovative
* Good design makes a product useful
* Good design is aesthetic
* Good design helps us to understand a product
* Good design is unobtrusive
* Good design is honest
* Good design is durable
* Good design is consequent to the last detail
* Good design is concerned with the environment
* Good design is as little design as possible

It’s that simple.

Happy World Usability Day!

On 03.11.1989 the Vitra Design Museum opened.

On 09.11.1989 the Berlin Wall “fell”.

Coincidence?

Almost certainly.
But while the Vitra Design Museum may not be able to claim responsibility for the end of the DDR, it can look back on a remarkable 20 year history and proudly profess to have helped popularise designer furniture and furniture designers.

Initially established as a location where Vitra chairman Rolf Fehlbaum could display his extensive collection of contemporary designer furniture artifacts, the role of the museum quickly expanded.

Vitra Design Museum (with advertising for the current exhibition: ANTIBODIES The Works of Fernando & Humberto Campana 1989 - 2009)

An initial exhibition on the work of Ron Arad laid the foundations for further shows either looking at the work of individual designers such as Isamu Noguchi, Frank Lloyd Wright or Joe Colombo or more general, themed, shows exploring subjects such as childrens furniture or aeronautical design. The increasing popularity of the Vitra Design Museum exhibitions is reflected in the visitor numbers; where 23,000 visitors were recorded in 1989, some 86,000 came in 2008.

And not just visitors to Weil am Rhein have profited; a range of travelling exhibitions have enthralled over 350,000 visitors world-wide.

Over the two decades the Vitra Design Museum site has also evolved from the original Frank Gehry building to become a veritable Campus, including production halls and conference facilities. And just as the furniture originates from some of the greatest designers so have the likes of Jasper Morrison, Jean Prouvé and Tadao Ando contributed to the architecture.

The Eames Elephant enclosure at the Vitra Design Museum

An important source of funding for the Vitra Design Museum is it’s range of re-edition and miniature products. In addition to the 1:6 miniatures of classic designer chairs, the Vitra Design Museum collection includes articles varying from Alexander Girard’s wooden dolls over Eames Elephants and on to “new” products such as the Classic Trays or the George Nelson ceramic clocks.

On Sunday November the 8th Vitra invite all to an Open Day in Weil am Rhein to celebrate the Design Museum‘s 20th birthday. In addition to guided tours through the exhibition, collection and buildings you will have the opportunity to decorate your own Eames Elephant.

We can thoroughly recommend the trip!

EA 107 by Charles and Ray Eames for Vitra

In the past week three independent events have occurred which fuse together in one important tale.

Firstly, while visiting a student flat in Dresden the (smow)boss noticed an obviously well used, but functioning chair reminiscent of the EA 107 by Charles and Ray Eames for Vitra. Despite assuming it to be a copy – student flat, Dresden, etc… – his professional curiosity got the better of him and  thought he’d better check .. and Lo and Behold it was an original EA 107 by Charles and Ray Eames from Vitra

The lucky recipient had inherited it from his grandfather, without ever knowing it’s real value; although fully appreciating the sitting comfort.

Mart Stam copies awaiting collection...

Contrast that scene with what greeted us the other morning as we walked past a prominent office block complex here in Leipzig: two obvious copies of the S 33 by Mart Stam from Thonet in the rubbish bins

So sad….

We’ll save you the pictures of the cracked and sagging faux leather seating, but the distressing point is that some company thought they could save a few euros by buying cheap on-line … and now have no chairs.

And the money is also long since gone.

This week also came the written judgement from Oberlandesgericht Düsseldorf in the case of Thonet against an Italian producer of Mart Stam copies, in particular the S 43 cantilever chair.

S 43 by Mart Stam through Thonet - officially a work of art

The court decided that being a work of visual art the S 43 is still protected by copyright, and, as such, can only be produced by the licence holder; namely, Thonet.
Aside from this judicial confirmation that Mart Stam’s work is art, the judges decicison should also further protect consumers from low quality copies.

For those whose disposed chairs we found, it’s all a little late, but for those who are considering investing in designer furniture the lessons are clear.

With an original licensed product, yes you pay a little more up front but with the extra money comes the peace of mind that rather than finding it’s way into the bin, the article will find it’s way to the next generation. And possibly also the next.

In these pages we have often described the dangers and problems associated with non-licensed copies of design classics.

And now thanks to Core 77 a particularly appalling case from the USA has been brought to our attention…as the images below show.

Xlounge x 3 by Mark Wentzel

OK it is art, and specifically an installation by conceptual sculptor Mark Wentzel for the Global Health Odyssey Museum in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

Entitled XLounge x 3 the show is, according to the PR blurb ” … a series of cleverly-adapted Eames Lounge Chairs and Ottomans responding to the apparent consequences of the over-consumption of goods and materials of recent years. Designed in 1956 by the legendary American designers Charles and Ray Eames with mass production in mind, this iconic furniture has come to typify a particular standard for stylish and enduring design products. Artist Mark Wentzel invokes a more universal application in XLounge, alluding to topics of global obesity and consumption, and the potential cooperation among artists, designers, scientists and manufacturers to address such issues.”
Which we think would appeal to Charles and Ray Eames who strived throughout their careers to use their talent for the benefit of all. And certainly there are features of the design principle behind the Eames Lounge Chair that would be applicable across other projects.

If your planning being in or near Atlanta, Georgia in the next few  weeks the exhibition runs until September 11.

And officially licensed, and usable, Eames Lounge Chairs from Vitra are always available from smow.