Powers of Ten

A scientific film essay, narrated by Phil Morrison. A set of pictures of two picnickers in a park, with the area of each frame one-tenth the size of the one before. Starting from a view of the entire known universe, the camera gradually zooms in until we are viewing the subatomic particles on a man’s hand.

imdb.com

youtube.com

isohunt.com

This short film is intrinsically interesting because it was made by the iconic designers Charles and Ray Eames, but it’s also fascinating as a time capsule of 1972… as a technical lesson on how a wonderful invention worked… and as a reminder of why–even in our age of instantly sharable digital imagery.

If you haven’t visited it yet, the Henry Ford’s Herman Miller Consortium Collection web site is a treasure trove of information for anyone interested in Modern design. There you can browse a catalog of Herman Miller designs, and discover who designed it, when it was first produced, the Herman Miller product name (e.g. Bentwood Chair), where an example is on exhibit, and whom you should contact at that particular museum.

From the Henry Ford’s web site:

“Herman Miller, Inc., based in Zeeland, Michigan, began in 1923 as a manufacturer of residential furniture. Over the years, the company has become a leader in design and manufacture of modern furniture for both home and office. Many famous designers, from Charles and Ray Eames to George Nelson, have created furniture for the company, and they are famous for innovations in design and ergonomics such as “Marshmallow Sofa” and “Molded Plywood Chair.”

“In 1988, Herman Miller, Inc. established the Herman Miller Consortium to share the historical product collection that had been accumulating as part of Herman Miller’s corporate archives in Zeeland, Michigan. The consortium collection, now held by thirteen museums all over the country, contained about 750 pieces of furniture, as well as a large quantity of product literature. As the lead institution in the consortium, The Henry Ford maintains the record of the consortium holdings. The Herman Miller consortium online database now provides access to these records.”

Mrs Eaves Font & Ray Eames

♦

The Font is named after Sarah Eaves,

- John Baskerville’s wife -

As Baskerville was setting up his type business,

Mrs. Eaves moved in with him as a live-in housekeeper.

Mrs. Eaves. Like the widows of

Caslon, Bodoni, and the daughters of Fournier,

completed the printing of the unfinished volumes

that John Baskerville left upon his death.

_

Ray Eames was Born Bernice Alexandra Kaiser

in Sacramento California 1912

the designer later known as Ray Eames

went to study at the Cranbrook Academy in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan,

where among other things she worked on weaving.

At that time Charles Eames was

head of the industrial design department at Cranbrook.

They became known as

Charles & Ray Eames,

soon afterwards.

Charles always used to quote

Who ever said that pleasure wasn’t functional?

Sources: Daddy, MyFonts.Com, BrainyQuote.com, Ketterkunst.com

]]> http://thesilverliningblog.com/2009/12/01/eames-lounge-chair-assembly/ Tue, 01 Dec 2009 07:12:12 +0000 thesilverlining http://thesilverliningblog.com/2009/12/01/eames-lounge-chair-assembly/

By Charles and Ray Eames in 1956.

Herman Miller produces these amazing walnut stools designed by Charles and Ray Eames.  But for the $800+ price tag and lack of needs, I’d have all three.  Charles Eames said “Toys are not really as innocent as they look. Toys and games are preludes to serious ideas.”

This year, for the holidays, Herman Miller has taken their words to heart. They’ve released  a “collection of three wooden tops, each with an original sculptural profile, each crafted of walnut, inspired by Eames [and] designed by KleinReid…the tops are both classic toys and kinetic art. It’s an original set of spinning tops that are as sculptural and beautiful as they are fun.”

Read more about their inspiration here, or pick them up from Herman Miller Select.

A year ago Herman Miller created Select.  It is a once a year limited edition release for those with good taste and an eye for design.

The 2009 release puts a fresh spin on one of Charles Eames’ passions: toys.  Inspired by Charles and Ray’s philosophy of ‘serious pleasure’ and their 1969 film, “Tops”, Herman Miller has created an original set of spinning tops.

Charles Eames once said, “Toys are not really as innocent as they look.  Toys and games are preludes to serious ideas.”  Charles and Ray Eames were both avid toy collectors and considered playtime productive time.  They recognized what psychologists have since realized; the act of play causes the brain to fire in new ways.

With Eames inspiration and Herman Miller innovation a classic combination prompted the Select release for this year.  A collection of three wooden tops, each with original sculptural profile, each crafted of exquisite walnut.  Designed by the New York City design studio, KleinReid, the Tops are both classic toys and kinetic art.

Ehrlich gesagt hätten wir nie gedacht, dass Vitra eine der Firmen ist, die moderne Technologie begeistert annehmen… aber sie haben einen Youtube-Channel.

Wunderbar.

Eines ihrer Videos ist ein sehr schöner Bereicht darüber, wie die Aluminium-Stühle von Ray und Charles Eames produziert werden.

Sobald ihr diesen Film gesehen habt, werdet ihr erkennen, dass der Preis nur gerecht ist.

I’m obsessed. There’s no other way to put it. I love love love this bed. It has the sleek lines of an Eames chair, but the organic shape still makes it look heavenly and comfortable. It encompasses everything I love about Eero and Eames and Modernism, but in a bed….and I’m drooling at the thought of my bedset on top of it…I think I just died and went to heaven. Check it out at Modernica!

Sexta-feira, dia 25 de setembro, saí com minha mãe para comprar mobília para a nossa sala de jantar. Confesso que não estávamos com nenhuma idéia na cabeça, só que queríamos alguma coisa diferente e que ficasse bem com a nossa sala de estar. Passamos por vários modelos, e a gente estava quase fechando numa cadeira cromada e estofada de algum designer famoso, quando minha mãe pareceu mais moderninha e abriu nosso leque de oportunidades para um modelo de cadeira super-sonho-meu, que achei que nunca teria se morasse com meus pais. Como combinei com minha mãe que a cadeira seria surpresa para nossos amigos e familiares, vou apresentar seis modelos de acrílico, onde escolhemos dois deles que estarão em nossa sala daqui uns 30 dias, aguardem. Tente adivinhar qual deles a gente comprou.

Louis Ghost Chair: é uma cadeira barroca de Luís XV revisitada, em policarbonato injetado. O nome remete a forma e ao material da cadeira, que foi criada em 2002 pelo designer frances Philippe Starck(1949).

Tulip Chair: criada em 1956 pelo arquiteto finlandês Eero Saarinen, é feita de fibra de vidro lacado brilhante e almofada que podem tem acabamentos variados, sendo que, o mais tradicional é o vermelho, como na foto. A cadeira é giratória e confere ao ambiente um ar moderno e sofisticado. O pedestal da base pode ser em alumínio fundido lacado em preto, branco ou alumini

DAR Chair: essa cadeira foi criada em 1948 pelo, considerado casal de ouro do design, Charles ( 1907- 1978 ) e Ray Eames ( 1912- 1989), que são pioneiros na experimentação, o que rendeu uma grande produção de criações atemporais. Atualmente, além da versão fixa (acima), existe o office (com rodízios) e a impagável cadeira de balanço.

DSR Chair: foi a primeira cadeira de plástico ser produzida industrialmente, criada também pelo casal estadunidense Charles ( 1907- 1978 ) e Ray Eames ( 1912- 1989). A peça fez a sua primeira grande aparição no decorrer do marcante concurso International Competition for Low-Cost Furniture Design do MoMA de Nova Iorque, no ano de 1948. Confortável, prática, e esteticamente apelativa, continua atual e muito moderna, tornando-se num excelente objeto para quem deseja estar rodeado de peças bem desenhadas.

SKR Chair: mais uma cadeira assinada pelo casal Charles e Ray Eames. Assim como os dois modelos anteriores, a base é acrílica e os pés em aço inoxidável.

Phanton Chair: essa peça cheia de curvas foi criada pelo designer e arquiteto dinamarquês Verner Panton (1926-1998). Essa cadeira foi idealizada em 1960, porém só passou a ser produzida em série 7 anos mais tarde. Um fato pitoresco é que a Panton foi a primeira cadeira confeccionada totalmente em plástico.

Na verdade, queria uma de cada. Eu como designer amo cadeiras e peças assinadas, porém, ainda vivo num apartamento não muito grande, ou seja, temos uma limitação para nossa criatividade. Gostaria que os amigos, familiares e leitores do fizessem suas apostas em quais modelos compramos, são dois. Escrevam nos comentários, ok?

Los archivos digitales de Google books acaban de crecer para incluir nuevos números de la revista LIFE. Entre todas las imágenes subidas se puede ver una buena colección de los Eames en su Case Study House y otro montón con este deseable juguetito [toy]

via dailyicon

All of you know Ray and Charles Eames. But do you know of the video they did called Powers of Ten? Its a fast take on the universe and perhaps a lesson on not underestimating a simple zero. Good design and interesting content comes in all forms. I came across it in a astronomy class ( in which the final was 50?! pages long! no joke.) Thank goodness interior is projects and not 50 page tests! Enjoy!

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Eine der Präsentationen auf die ich mich am meisten gefreut hatte bei der Mailänder Messe, war die von dem Schweizer Designerteam “POSTFOSSIL“.

Schon voriges Jahr hatte mich die Gruppe mit einigen wunderbaren Ideen in ihren Bann gezogen. Die 2009 Kollektion übertrifft das meiner Meinung nach noch.

Besonders eingeschlagen hat bei mir der Holzstuhl von Florian Hauswirth, JWC – Just Wood Chair. Selten hat ein so niedriger Stuhl so viel Begeisterung ausgelöst. Vielleicht lag es daran, dass Hauswirth mit JWC mindestens subtil an Charles and Ray Eames’s LCW erinnerte.

JWC – Just Wood Chair von Hauswirth

]]> http://theinvisibleagent.wordpress.com/2009/07/26/operation-disneland-3-designing-disney-mary-blair-its-a-small-word/ Sun, 26 Jul 2009 00:59:07 +0000 invisibleagent http://theinvisibleagent.wordpress.com/2009/07/26/operation-disneland-3-designing-disney-mary-blair-its-a-small-word/

When Disney’s Mary Blair was working to design “It’s a Small World” for the 1964/1965 World’s Fair in New York City, she was incredibly up to date with art and design of the era.  Below are photographs of the ride’s facade at Disneyland.

Below are concept sketches for the facade by Mary Blair, along with a video where she talks about the design process with Walt Disney prior to moving the ride to Disneyland from the World’s Fair.

Blair may have been influenced by the work of Charles & Ray Eames, Alexander Girard, and Stig Lindberg; all who were incredibly popular at the time and were working with stacked shapes. Other artists may have included glass artist Georges Briard and fine artist Louise Nevelson.

Artwork by Stig Lindberg which incorporated stacked shapes

Alexander and Susan Girard at the Herman Miller showroom with stacked shape artwork

Mr. Eames at home with stacked shapes

Glass tray by Georges Briard

Louise Nevelson's "Sky Cathedral"

Another of Louise Nevelson's wooden sculptures

The original World’s Fair ride also incorporated a kinetic sculpture titled “The Tower of the 4 Winds” designed by Rolly Crump. Unfortunately the tower was torn down when the fair ended.

Crump and Disney with a model of "The Tower of the 4 Winds"

Rolly Crump's "Tower of the 4 Winds" outside of "It's a Small World" at the New York World's Fair

Crump also may have been influenced by the work of Charles & Ray Eames and their solar powered “Do Nothing Machine”

Charles Eames with his solar powered toy

The solar powered toy designed by Charles and Ray Eames

Here are some more Mary Blair-isms that I found at Disneland:

Castle on top of a vendor

I just posted a new article about industrial design and Charles & Ray Eames on my website http://www.eriksand.no

As a Europe-wide active business we at smow take Europe very seriously. We must, it is our home.

And naturally for us the European elections are an important event for which we are more than happy to sacrifice a couple of hours of our time in which to go voting.

A typical polling station....

But don’t you also agree that polling stations are frightfully dull locations? We’re not snobs, but, you know, one could at least try to, you know, make a little effort.

So smow spoke to the responsible authorities in Leipzig and they let us furnish our local polling station here in Downtown East Plagwitz Village.

First it was important to get the right table. After careful consideration we opted for Eiermann tables with asymmetric Eiermann II frames from Ricard Lampert. Easy to assemble, height adjustable … and they look great. Perfect.

Kleiner Trommler by Sabine Mrasek and Clemens Stübner for Moormann

For the ballot boxes we ideally wanted Kleiner Trommler from Moormann. Sadly we currently have none in stock, and so, on account of the time limits in which we were obliged to operate, we were forced to choose an alternative.

After a detailed search in the expansive (smow)lager we settled on the wonderful Vitra Eames Elephant – not only can they be relied upon not to reveal how you voted, but as elephants never forget they could, potentially, help should the votes go astray.

And with their simple, natural curves they fit perfectly with Egon Eiermann’s genial table.

Vitra Eames Elephant in action as a ballot box

We were gratified by the positive feedback we received from all the voters who made use of our polling station and are currently working on a concept to furnish all polling stations in Leipzig for the parliamentary elections in September.

Voting is an important and sombre event, but needn’t be a Calvinistic ritual; rather, it can be done in and with a little style.

And as ever smow show the way. And should you need new furniture for our polling station, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

The smow polling station - Eiermann II Table from Richard Lampert and an Eames Elephant from Vitra

If we’re honest we would never have thought Vitra would be the sort of company to embrace modern technology … but they have a youtube channel.

Wonderful

Their newest offering is wonderful portrait of how the Aluminium Chairs from Ray and Charles Eames are produced.

Once you’ve seen this film, you’ll appreciate that the price is more than fair.

 

photo: Blanton Museum of Art

California Art, Design, and Culture at MidcenturyBIRTH OF COOL BLANTON ART MUSEUM AUSTIN TEXAS WEEKEND CULTURE

The Mid-Century Modern period was a cultural phenomenon that occurred when California’s coolest contemporaries spread the word about the newest design movement between the mid 30’s to the mid 60’s.

Architectural giants such as Frank Llyod Wright and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe articulated the post-war development of American suburbs by creating open plan homes that featured large glass windows and sleek design which was unheard of during this time.

Los Angeles California and it’s hub of creativity embraced these new ideas of organic growth and rapidly produced  paintings, furniture design, graphic arts, film, and music.  Miles Davis released the legendary Birth of Cool in 1957; taught America how to grasp the idea of “cool” while  Ray and Charles Eames drew heavy inspiration from the period and produced four decades of heart-stopping design from unconventional materials like plywood and plastic.

Austin’s own Blanton Museum of Art has more than 200 objects that give a multi-disciplinary showcase of the very makings to the “Birth of Cool”; art, design, and style from West Coast post-war era.

Due to popular demand, the Blanton will extend its hours on May 16 until 8 PM to give visitors one last look at Birth of the Cool before it closes May 17.

At 7 PM, view a special screening of the film VISUAL ACOUSTICS a 2008 study of the architectural photography of Julius Shulman. Followed by a Q&A with filmmaker, Eric Bricker. Film included with museum admission. Enjoy the Blanton Cafe before the screening (also open until 8 PM).

Blanton Museum of Art . The University of Texas at Austin
200 East M.L.K . Austin, Texas 78701 . 512 471 7324

One of the shows we are most looking forward to in Milan is that from Swiss design collective “POSTFOSSIL“.

Their 2008  show contained some delightful pieces and from the look of he preview photos the 2009 collection is a tick better.

We are especially excited about the JWC – Just Wood Chair by Florian Hauswirth.

If we’re honest we have rarely been so excited about a low chair in a long time; not least on account of the cheeky, knowing nod to Charles and Ray Eames’s LCW.

JWC - Just Wood Chair by Florian Hauswirth for POSTFOSSIL

The fine folks over at Eames Collector.com have put together this amazing 1 minute video of the various knots of Mr. Charles Eames’ bow ties.  The film ends with a rare view of the original design sketch of the Charles Eames bow tie as designed by Mrs. Ray Eames.  All of Mr. Eames’ bow ties were hand made in New York City.  We make a similar shaped bow tie at David Hart & Co. with pointed ends.

Like so many others, the SX-70 is easily one of my favorite cameras of all time.  This ad is long but wonderfully put together and gives some great information on the inner workings of the camera itself.  Note that the ad was created by Charles and Ray Eames.

Ray und Charles Eames

Charles und Ray Eames go Vienna. Erstmals in Österreich wird ab 30. September im Wagner:Werk in Wien die Ausstellung Eames by Vitra gezeigt.

-

Das amerikanische Designerpaar Charles und Ray Eames hat in den rund vier Jahrzehnten seiner Zusammenarbeit ein außergewöhnlich umfangreiches, breit gefächertes Werk geschaffen, das die internationale Designentwicklung nachhaltig beeinflusste.

Von besonderer Bedeutung sind dabei ihre wegweisenden, längst als Klassiker etablierten Möbelentwürfe, die bis heute – Jahrzehnte nach ihrer Entstehung – nichts von ihrer Aktualität und Gültigkeit eingebüsst haben.

Vitra – seit über 50 Jahren der einzige autorisierte Hersteller von Entwürfen der Eames in Europa und dem Nahen Osten – hat eine Ausstellung entwickelt, die vor allem ihrem Möbeldesign gewidmet ist. Nach Materialien wie Sperrholz, Kunststoff, Draht und Aluminium geordnet, werden hier alle von Vitra hergestellten Arbeiten der Eames ausführlich vorgestellt. Bereits durch die Art der Präsentation gelingt es dabei, auf einige der konstruktiven Erfindungen der Eames aufmerksam zu machen, die der Zeitbeständigkeit ihrer Arbeiten zugrunde liegen. Ausführliche Erläuterungstexte bieten zusammen mit historischen Fotografien und Dokumenten reichhaltige Informationen zum designgeschichtlichen Hintergrund und zu den charakteristischen Merkmalen der Möbel.

Abgerundet wird die visuell attraktive und gehaltvolle Schau durch weitere Dokumente, einige von den Eames selbst produzierte Filme sowie sechs Original-Stücke, die auch andere Bereiche ihres Schaffens beleuchten und damit die Bedeutung dieser Jahrhundert-Designer untermauern.

Eines der Highlights unter den Originalen ist der EA 124 / EA 125 aus der Aluminium Group, der zu den bedeutendsten Möbel-Entwürfen des 20. Jahrhunderts zählt. Das Design stammt aus dem Jahr 1958 – sodass anlässlich der Eames Ausstellung in Wien der 50. Geburtstag des Designklassikers gefeiert werden kann.

Ausstellung “Eames by Vitra”. Wagner:Werk.

Museum Postsparkasse. Georg-Coch-Platz 2, 1018 Wien

30. September – 25. Oktober 2008

Mo und Do von 8.30 – 17.30 Uhr Di, Mi, Fr 8.30 – 15.00 Uhr Samstag 10.00 – 17.00 Uhr

www.vitra.com

www.ottowagner.com