I knew when I started ATELIER TALLY that I would eventually post about Charles & Ray Eames as I have been a fan since I was 15 years old. I remember the first time that I saw the famous “Eames lounger” in a magazine and fell in love with the retro curves and the leather upholstery. For some reason, I didn’t instantly think that I should try and work in the same industry that created this, but later I would find myself working alongside designers that met and worked with these genius’s.
I have never made the journey to visit the home that Charles & Ray, the husband and wife team, created out in Los Angeles but with so many good images flying around the internet, I feel like I have been there.
My fascination soon faded as I become more interested in graphic design and headed off to Leeds to study. A chance visit to Saltaire near Bradford and The Home shop at Salts Mill brought me back to Eames and their furniture. As I turned 21, I was given some money for my birthday and decided to buy an Eames red Eiffel chair. It was such an amazing piece to find and finally be able to afford.
I still have this chair and sit in it most days to work – it is just as nice an object as it is a comfortable chair.
My recommendation to most people, when they as me what they should buy, is to think of the one piece of furniture they have always coveted and buy it – there is no need to fill a house with design icons, but one piece really stands out and will make you smile form time to time, despite how shallow that sounds.
Watch films of Charles & Ray Eames discussing their designs at ATELIER TV
The following images were originally posted at Designboom.
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