Mid-Century Modernism

April 5, 2017

Mid-century modern architecture included: flat roofs, angular details, and asymmetrical profiles, expansive walls of glass, clean lines and wide open floor plans, first to use bi-level structures, married indoor spaces to the outside and was extremely popular on the west coast. The color tones were warm, earthy tones like olive green, burnt umber, pumpkin and mustard yellow. Also there were trendy colors used like pink, gray, turquoise, black and yellow. Two people who were very successful in this time period were Charles and Ray Eames.

Charles Eames was born in 1907 in St. Louis. He attended Washington University for two years after being thrown out because of his support of Frank Lloyd Wright. He later started working at Cranbrook Academy as the head of the design department.

Ray Kaiser Eames was born in 1912 in Sacramento. She studied in New York and then moved onto Cranbrook Academy where she met Charles.

They married in 1941 and moved to California where they continued their furniture design. Herman Miller soon took over production of their furniture. They were very successful in designing many pieces for Herman Miller.

Eames Molded Plywood Chair

Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman 

Eames Wire Base Low Table Outdoor

Extra Credit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8rICo44kAE

This is a video called "A Journey into The World of Charles and Ray Eames. It talks a lot about their thinking and the way they designed furniture. I believe it was very interesting! 

Peer Review: 

Haley: I loved watching your video you posted! It was fun to watch them transform that space! 

Savannah: Your video on the Eames Molded Plastic Chairs was very interesting to watch. I thought maybe they would go into how they were made but they just showed a lot of chairs and what contexts they could be brought into so that was nice.