exhibition designs and architectural projects and making over 100 short films. Many of these designs were originally attributed solely to Charles, but the close, collaborative nature of the couple’s work and the extent of Ray’s contribution is now recognized. In their prolific career as furniture designers, Charles and Ray Eames were keen to explore the potential of modern materials — few of their other pieces were as traditional in style as the 670 chair, with its rich rosewood and leather. They made extensive use of cast aluminum, wooden dowels for chair and table legs, and steel rods to support chairs. The couple was also pioneers with regard to fiberglass and plastics, seizing on their potential for molding to make a chair’s seat, back and arms in a single piece. They liked to use colorful panels in other types of furniture, integrating them into wooden display units, for example. Some of these units — made for Herman Miller, like much of their work — combine conventional wooden drawers with perforated metal and polychrome panels. These colorful effects, together with the organic forms and narrow legs of some of their chairs, helped Charles and Ray Eames to define the look of many mid-century interiors. v “Great Design” First American Edition, 2013 Published in the United States by DK Publishing. 345 Hudson Street New York, New York 10014 www.dk.com
Rocking chair, 1950
This chair is typical of the Eames’s unlikely combination of materials and distinctive form.