The Story of Eames Furniture

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
Eames's 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 Eames's 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 Eames's primary
designer and technician from the mid-1940s
to 1960.
The Story of Eames Furniture celebrates
Charles Eames's 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.