Design Artifacts
The Office of Charles and Ray Eames
Designs by Charles and
Ray Eames will be on display at the Exploratorium from October 6,
2001-May 5, 2002, in conjunction with Mathematica: The World of
Numbers... and Beyond, their classic exhibition designed in 1961,
the only still extant. The artifacts illustrate the range of the Eames
work prior to the creation of Mathematica. They include iconic items
such as their famous bent plywood chairs, as well as some of their
lesser-known works, among them the molded plywood radio enclosures
that preceded the development of their chairs. The selection on display
includes:
Eames Toys
To illustrate the Eames sense of play, structure and modern graphics
1953 Giant House
of Cards
1960 Medium House of Cards
1952 Two different sets of Small House of Cards
1956 Eames Solar Do-Nothing-Machine Toy (aluminum construction powered
by solar energy). Although the toy does not exist for display, we
present two vintage record album covers, two vintage magazines and
a promotional book, all featuring covers and articles about the solar
toy.
Modern Home Electronics
1956 Eames multi-directional modern speaker cabinet design
Eames Chair Designs
1946 metal and plywood
dining chair
1950 fiberglass chair
1950 wire chair
Other Eames Furniture
Designs
1950 Multi-colored Storage Units in production until 1955, but started
in 1950
Eames Graphics Wall
Display of a collection of 1944-1964 Eames
Office designed graphics in the form of vintage catalogs, ads, packaging
and instruction sheets.
