Eames

Modern perfection

The couple who turned American living rooms upside down

The creative duo Charles Eames (1907-1978) and Ray Kaiser Eames (1912-1988) changed the face of America. The couple is best known for their furniture, but also made groundbreaking contributions in the fields of architecture, textile design, photography and film.

The Eames' work stood for a new multifunctional modernity, characterized by its combination of craftsmanship and design and the use of modern materials such as plywood and plastic. The Eames Lounge Chair Wood, made with a new plywood molding technique, became a trademark of the 20th century. For the Case Study Houses, the couple not only used industrial materials in innovative ways, but also developed a flexible floor plan for multifunctional spaces that became a hallmark of modern post-war architecture.

This volume covers all aspects of the illustrious Eames oeuvre, from the earliest furniture experiments to the seminal short film Powers of Ten, and examines its revolutionary influence on middle-class American living.

The author

Gloria Koenig has published extensively on architecture, is the author of numerous books and writes for various magazines and newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times. She also contributed to a documentary film about her late husband, the architect Pierre Koenig.

The editor

Peter Gössel runs an agency for museum and exhibition design. He has published monographs on Julius Shulman, R. M. Schindler, John Lautner and Richard Neutra for TASCHEN, as well as several architecture titles in the Small Series.