Charles and Ray Eames

Charles and Ray Eames were a collaborative duo of American architects and designers known for their groundbreaking furniture and houses. Utilizing innovative materials, including molded plywood, fiberglass, bent aluminum, and plastic, the married couple produced elegant and functional works. “I came to design through architecture, Ray came to design through painting,” Charles once explained. “This should not be at all surprising since I feel that most everything is a form of architecture, certainly all of the environment that man creates for himself—and Ray feels that painting is related to everything and of course I feel that painting comes under the heading of architecture.” Charles Eames was born on June 17, 1907 in St. Louis, MO, going on to attend the Washington University in St. Louis, where he developed an interest in engineering and architecture. After studying on scholarship for two years, he was asked to leave school due to his advocacy of Frank Lloyd Wright, shortly thereafter he began working in an architectural office. In 1930, Charles started his own firm where he extended his ideas beyond architecture. Born Ray-Bernice Kaiser on December 15, 1912 in Sacramento, CA, she went on to study painting under Hans Hofmann in New York before attending Cranbrook Academy, where she met her future husband Charles Eames who was teaching there at the time. Charles and Ray got married in 1941, soon after they moved to California where they began collaborating on furniture designs. Notably during World War II, the U.S. Navy commissioned the Eames to produce molded plywood splints, stretchers, and experimental glider shells. In 1946, Evans Products began manufacturing Eames furniture, including their famed chair, the Eames Lounge Chair, which was once deemed “the chair of the century” by the architectural critic Esther McCoy. Charles died on August 21, 1978 in Los Angeles, CA, Ray died exactly a decade later on August 21, 1988 in Los Angeles, CA. Today, their works are held in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, The Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, among others.