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Charles & Ray Eames 美国设计大师夫妇

作者:淘博工业设计整理发布 日期:2021-04-28 人气:3167

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官方网站:https://www.eamesoffice.com/the-work/

Charles & Ray Eames

      Charles Eames, born 1907 in St. Louis, Missouri, studied architecture at Washington University in St. Louis and designed a number of houses and churches in collaboration with various partners. His work caught the attention of Eliel Saarinen, who offered him a fellowship at the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan in 1938. In 1940, he and Eero Saarinen won first prize in the 'Industrial Design Competition for the 21 American Republics' - also known as 'Organic Design in Home Furnishings' – organised by the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York. Eames was appointed head of the industrial design department at Cranbrook the same year.

      Ray Eames was born as Bernice Alexandra Kaiser in Sacramento, California, in 1912. She attended Bennett College in Millbrook, New York, and continued her studies in painting at the Hans Hofmann School of Fine Arts until 1937. During this year she exhibited her work in the first exhibition of the American Abstract Artists group at the Riverside Museum in New York. She matriculated at the Cranbrook Academy of Art in 1940.

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       Charles and Ray Eames married in 1941 and moved to Los Angeles, where together they began experimenting with techniques for the three-dimensional moulding of plywood. The aim was to create comfortable chairs that were affordable. However, the war interrupted their work, and Charles and Ray turned instead to the design and development of leg splints made of plywood, which were manufactured in large quantities for the US Navy. In 1946, they exhibited their experimental furniture designs at MoMA. The Herman Miller Company in Zeeland, Michigan, subsequently began to produce Eames furniture. Charles and Ray participated in the 1948 'Low-Cost Furniture' competition at MoMA, and they built the Eames House in 1949 as their own private residence. In addition to their work in furniture design and architecture, they also regularly turned their hand to graphic design, photography, film and exhibition design.

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     In 1957 Vitra signed a licence agreement with Herman Miller and began producing the Eameses' designs for Europe and the Middle East. Charles and Ray Eames have had a profound and lasting influence on Vitra. It was the encounter with their work that spurred the company's beginnings as a furniture manufacturer. Yet it is not just the products of Charles and Ray Eames that have left a mark on Vitra. Even today, their design philosophy continues to significantly shape the company's values, orientation and goals.

     This seminal influence is most clearly reflected in the question that is always asked at Vitra when making important design decisions: What would Charles and Ray say? Over the course of their shared lifetime, the couple gave their answers during trips to Europe and return visits to California. Since the death of Charles (1978) and Ray (1988), Vitra has remained in close contact with the Eames family, which now runs the Eames Office, regarding all matters concerning the preservation, further development and production of Eames designs. Vitra is the sole authorised manufacturer of Eames products for Europe and the Middle East. When you own an Eames product made by Vitra, you know it is an original.

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      Furniture by Charles and Ray Eames has been a cornerstone of the Vitra Design Museum collection since its inception. A major part of the objects in the couple's estate was received in 1988. After presenting the exhibition 'The Work of Charles and Ray Eames' in 1997/98, the Vitra Design Museum is now holding a comprehensive retrospective of the couple's lifework in 2017/18 entitled 'An Eames Celebration', divided into four parallel exhibitions on the Vitra Campus in Weil am Rhein. To mark the occasion, the Vitra Design Museum has published the 'Eames Furniture Sourcebook' and 'Essential Eames: Words & Pictures'.

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传奇设计师——Charles and Ray Eames夫妇 

如果说有谁能担得起家居设计界的天才一词的话,我想首先应是Eames 莫属了。Charles Eames Ray Eames这对夫妇不仅在生活中堪称完美,在设计中也琴瑟和鸣,堪称经典。

在众多家居设计当中,你所能见到最多的,也是他们的设计作品,一把椅子,一件摆件,就能立刻让你认出“Eames范儿”。

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Charles Eames 曾说:「设计师是一个非常棒的身份,就像是一位设想周到的主人,能事先考虑到他的宾客的需求。」由此便能了解为何在他们这些令人会心一笑的设计作品里,总是秉着「设计来自于人性」的本质。

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Charles Eames 在大学时期攻读建筑,但因想法太过「现代」而被退学,之后他另辟天地,成立自己的建筑事务所;Ray Kaiser 则在大学毕业后,前往纽约跟抽象表现主义大师 Hans Hofmann 学画,并为美国抽象艺术家(American Abstract Artists)的创始成员之一。后来两人分别前往密执安州的 Cranbrook Academy of Art 深造,进而相识相恋,而不论在工作还是生活上皆合作无间的两人,也为设计史开启新的章节。

作为最伟大的有机设计的倡议者和20世纪最重要的两位设计师,Eames 夫妇用实践证明了现代设计将如何能够并应该用于提高人类的生活质量,提高人类的感知能力、理解能力和知识。Charles Eames 的许多成就与他的妻子Ray Eames密不可分,在他们近半个世纪的成功合作中,他们对“形式追随功能“进行了美学和技术角度的新的诠释。

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Eames 的与众不同表现在他的无门无派,决不把自己限于某一种思潮或技术派别中。

他的一切设计都从实际出发,如设计一把椅子,只考虑个人的需要,而后以自己的体会找出答案。


他对接触材料、选择材料情有独钟,在各种材料的使用中深入探索一切结构细节。

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左图为《Lounge Chair Wood》,是由 Eames 夫妇所研发出的成型夹板(moulded plywood)所构成,圆弧的线条、形状让整体感觉相当舒适;在 1999 年时被《时代杂志》评选为「20世纪之最佳设计」。右图是 Eames 夫妇以《Soft Pad Chair》为原型,为教宗若望·保禄二世所设计的座椅。

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Miniatures DCW

Charles & Ray Eames, 1945

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Miniatures DSW

Charles & Ray Eames, 1950

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La Chaise

Charles & Ray Eames, 1948

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Miniatures Aluminium Chair

Charles & Ray Eames, 1958

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Miniatures DKR "Wire Chair"

Charles & Ray Eames, 1951



’Everything is architecture!’

Or is it? Catherine Ince curates ‘The World of Charles & Ray Eames’ at the Barbican Art Gallery in London




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