Eames Objects

This flexible plywood screen consists of thinner plywood units. This product varies in height and in the number of plywood units used. At first, plywood screens were also created in red, black, and other colors. Screens could be made to order, and examples of these include a huge screen comprised of tens of panels. Its design shows the influence of Alvar Aalto, whom Charles respected.

n their early experiments in molded plywood, Charles and Ray Eames were intrigued to see if they could create structures stable enough to stand. This idea soon became reality in a portable, foldable way to divide space, known as the Molded Plywood Folding Screen (1946). Standing almost six feet tall, the screen is made up of six U-shaped panels that have natural face veneers and lightweight walnut inner plies. These panels were originally held together with canvas hinges and a synthetic adhesive developed during WWII. Today, the screen is made with a polypropylene mesh that's more flexible and longer lasting. Shift the footprint of the undulating panels to fit the space needed, and when not in use, fold the screen for compact storage.

Charles and Ray Eames noted that U-shaped cross sections of plywood from their early molding experiments were stable enough to stand alone. To make their screen, they joined the sections with canvas hinges and a synthetic adhesive developed during World War II. Today, a polypropylene mesh held securely by a new process ensures a longer life without compromising the integrity of the 1946 design. You get a portable, foldable, enjoyable way to divide space and give privacy.

The molded plywood folding screen features six panels connected by woven polypropylene mesh. The hardwood inner ply is sandwiched by natural face veneers available in your choice of four finish options.

Dimensions:
H 68" W 60" D 2.25"
Materials:
Molded plywood sections; natural face veneer in ash, ebony, walnut or cherry; walnut inner plies; woven polypropylene mesh.

image credit: kim+jeffrey

The Eames Molded Plywood Splint US Navy in 1943

The famous icon of American Modernism, design by Charles and Ray Eames for the U.S. Government to transport wounded soldiers off the field. The precursor to the early plywood furniture.
Produced for the United States Navy by the Evans Products Company, Molded Plywood Division for injured servicemen. These splints are truly beautiful and an important milestone on the Eames journey.

A little bit of history:

The last thing the landlord expected when he rented a modest Richard Neutra-designed apartment on Strathmore Avenue in the Los Angeles suburb of Westwood to a newly married couple in 1941 was for the spare bedroom to be turned into a workshop. No sooner had Charles and Ray Eames moved in than they kitted out that room with a home-made moulding machine into which they fed the woods and glues that Charles sneaked home from his day job as a set architect on MGM movies like Mrs Miniver.It was on this machine - dubbed the "Kazam!" after the saying "Ala Kazam!" because the plywood formed in the mould like magic - that the Eames produced for the Navy, their first mass-manufactured product, a plywood leg splint based that kept an injured leg stable during transport, on a plaster mould of Charles' own leg. The splint is beautiful, elegant, simple, and functional, and it solved a problem in a way that worked for everybody. One of the most important things about that object is that when you see it, you immediately know what it is. The design makes it instantly recognizable. Too often, we confuse design with marketability -- a product with a label that tries to tell us that the product is a "good" design.
A year later, the US Navy placed an order for 5,000 splints and the Eames moved their workshop out of their apartment into a rented studio on nearby Santa Monica Boulevard.

The Eames splint is recognizable by its simplicity -- a three-dimensional outline of a space created by a leg. It achieves its intent and its function with no extraneous moves; it's anti-rococo. But simplicity does not mean simplistic -- something that's simplistic is made without thought.

During World War II, the U.S. Navy called upon Charles and Ray Eames to create a lightweight, inexpensive leg splint. The resulting design is a highly sculptural yet functional device that could be mass-produced and, being modular, conveniently and inexpensively transported. Access to military technology and manufacturing facilities allowed the Eameses to perfect their technique for molding plywood, which they had been working on for several years. In its three-dimensional, biomorphic form, the leg splint suggests the Eames' subsequent, highly influential plywood furniture designs.

manufactured by Evans Products, Molded Plywood Division

The first product to reach the production line was a leg splint, somewhat unlikely for one of the twentieth century’s greatest product designers, but timely to say the least. In 1943 the US Navy placed an order for 5000 leg splints, enabling the Eames to move out of their apartment and into ritzier territory on Santa Monica Boulevard.

Dimensions:

H. 42 1/4 in. (107.3 cm), W. 7 7/8 in. (20 cm), D. 3 1/2 in. (8.9 cm)

image credit: brandon shigeta

To celebrate the 100th birthday of Charles Eames, Vitra is introducing a limited anniversary edition of the Eames Plywood Elephant, a legendary furniture sculpture that was designed in 1945 but never produced for general distribution and sale. Of the two known prototypes, only one remains in the Eames Family Archives.

Charles and Ray Eames were fascinated by elephants. Many images of these gentle giants are found in Charles' photographic documentations of Indian culture and the circus world. The Plywood Elephant was designed as a toy for children, but also as a striking sculptural object that makes a statement in any environment with its vigorous curves and delightful character.

To commemorate Charles Eames' 100th birthday June 17th, Vitra is producing one of the animals, the elephant, in a limited series of 1,000,

During the early 1940s Charles and Ray Eames developed a successful technique for molding plywood into three-dimensional shapes, which led to the creation of a variety of furnishings and sculptures. The Plywood Elephant, in particular, has attained legendary status among collectors. Designed in 1945, this piece requires complex fabrication methods. Only two prototypes were produced, both of which were subsequently displayed in an exhibition at the New York Museum of Modern Art. Today only one known model remains in the possession of the Eames Family.

Charles and Ray Eames were fascinated by elephants. Many images of these gentle giants are found in Charles' photographic documentations of Indian culture and the circus world. The Plywood Elephant was designed as a toy for children, but also as a striking sculptural object that makes a statement in any environment with its vigorous curves and delightful character. There is a playful charm in the way that the Eames’ used juvenile motifs to create a vibrant, cheerful idiom that appeals to adults as well as children.When the Japanese design magazine Casa Brutus ran an all-Eames issue in 2001, it included a papercraft version of the Plywood Elephant that was so popular, they reprinted it. A couple of years later, an Eames-related mook came out with the papercraft elephant, too. [The mook is 1260 yen at Amazon JP; you can still get Casa Brutus for $20 from EamesGallery.com.]

Dimensions:

30" trunk to tail, 14" wide and 16 5/16" tall

image credit: apartment therapy

In the mid-1940s, the Eameses began to design toys and furniture for children, including molded plywood animals, colorful building blocks and whimsical masks. This brightly colored hang-it-all holds jackets, caps, skates, backpacks and almost anything else. Includes hardware package with drywall anchors and screws.

Beginning in the mid-1940s and continuing throughout their careers, Charles and Ray Eames designed a variety of whimsical toys and furniture pieces specifically for children, including this 1953 piece for Tigrett Enterprises Playhouse Division.

Why children's products? For purely personal reasons: Charles and Ray wanted to give them to their own grandchildren and to the children of friends.

The Hang-It-All--along with molded plywood animals, small-scale chairs and tables, elaborate cardboard-and-paper masks, and brightly colored building blocks--were all given the same careful design consideration as the couple's furniture designs.

To achieve the Hang-It-All's spidery base, the Eameses used the mass-production techniques for welding wires that they developed for their wire-base tables and wire chairs.

Dimensions:
H 14.625" W 19.75" D 6.5"
Materials:
Steel rod frame with white powder coat; painted solid maple balls in nine colors.