THE STORY OF EAMES FURNITURE

• Main Author: Neuhart, Marilyn (Author)
• Other Authors: Neuhart, John
• Format: Book
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin Gestalten 2010
• Subjects: Eames, Charles.; Eames, Ray.; Office of Charles and Ray Eames > History.; Herman Miller, Inc. > History.; Furniture design > History > 20th century > United States; Furniture industry and trade > History > 20th century > United States
• Online Access: Click Here to View Status and Holdings.
• Physical Description: 798 pages some colour illustrations 30 cm
• Bibliography: Includes bibliographical references (p. 783-791) and index
• ISBN: 9783899552300; 389955230X

In this unique publication, Marilyn and John Neuhart tell the story, to paraphrase Charles Eames himself, of how Eames furniture got to be the way it is. The Story of Eames Furniture is a biography not of an individual person, but of arguably the most influential and important furniture brand of our time. Brimming with more than 2,500 images and insider information, this two-volume book in a slipcase sheds new light on the context in which the furniture of Charles and Ray Eames was created. It documents in unparalleled detail how the design process in the Eames Office developed as well as the significant roles played by specific designers and manufacturers. Volume 1 presents the early years of the Eames Office and its method of furniture design and development. It introduces not only Charles and Ray Eames, but also key members of their design team including Eero Saarinen, Harry Bertoia, Herbert Matter, and others a widely diverse group of people who did the day-by-day work on the furniture projects and who together ultimately turned contemporary design in a new direction. This volume also focuses on Charles Eamess early work with plywood and how he adapted plywood-molding techniques into a system to mass-produce furniture. Volume 2 features the period from the aftermath of the Second World War through 1978, the year of Charles Eamess death and of the effective, functional end of the Eames Office. By explaining the pioneering industrial processes used with innovative materials such as fiberglass, wire, and aluminum, it provides incomparable insight into how new technologies served as the genesis for the most interesting pieces of Eames furniture. This volume also focuses on the role of the Herman Miller Furniture Company in the evolution of furniture design at the Eames Office and investigates the influence of Don Albinson, who was Charles Eamess primary designer and technician from the mid-1940s to 1960. The Story of Eames Furniture celebrates Charles Eamess vanguard cultural achievement of giving modern society the opportunity of materializing its identity through furniture design that, even today, still tops bestseller lists and has not lost any of its original elegance, timelessness, freshness, and quality.