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Vitra

Eames Plastic Armchair RE LAR

by Charles & Ray Eames, 1950 — from 545,00 €
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Eames Plastic Armchair RE LAR

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555,00 € *
2 x in stock, delivery time 1 working day (country of delivery Germany)
3 % advance payment discount*: 538,35 € (Save 16,65 €)

Renowned for their revolutionary designs Charles & Ray Eames also wrote design history with LAR: Designed in 1950 the LAR Plastic Armchair, and as with its siblings from the Eames Plastic Chairs family, consists of an organically shaped plastic seat shell combined with a filigree base. Out of production since 1968, the LAR, with its characteristic Cat's Cradle base is now, once again, being produced by Vitra - since 2024 with a seat shell of resource-saving recycled material.

Details

Product type Lounge chair
Dimensions

Dimensions in mm

Seat height with upholstery: 28,5 cm
Seat height with full upholstery: 27 cm
Colours Seat shell, new colours 2024
17 Emerald RE
92 Citron RE
85 Cotton white RE

Seat shell
12 Deep black RE
56 Granite grey RE
48 Forest RE
34 Mustard RE
43 Rusty orange RE
03 Poppy red RE
41 Pale rose RE
11 Pebble RE
24 Light grey RE
23 Ice grey RE
04 White

Seat cushion / full upholstery, Hopsak
66 Nero
05 Dark grey
77 Nero / forest
73 Petrol / moor brown
22 Navy blue / dark grey
82 Ice blue / moor brown
23 Nero / ivory
80 Warmgrey / moor brown
88 Cognac / ivory
65 Coral / poppyred
19 Mustard / dark grey
18 Mustard / ivory
16 Yellow / ivory
87 Ivory / forest
86 Mint / forest
20 Green / ivory
81 Ice blue / ivory
79 Warmgrey / ivory

(Further Hopsak colours available on request)
Base
Basic dark
Chrome
White

Material Base: Steel wire with bracing
Seat upholstery: Hopsak (100% polyamide)
Seat shell: dyed-through polypropylene (white) or dyed-through RE plastic (all other colours)

Please note:
The RE plastic employed for the Eames Plastic Chair seat shells is composed of granules of recycled plastics from the German "Yellow Sack" packaging recycling system and approx. 10% fibreglass material to achieve the necessary rigidity. The familiar colours of the seat shells do not change as a result of this material change. However, with the lighter seat shell colours tiny pigments of differently coloured granules may be visible upon closer inspection. These pigments do not represent a defect, but are a feature of the new sustainable material. Below is a comparative example of the colour "ice grey" in high magnification - the new material is on the right.
Variants Optionally available with seat or full upholstery
Edge reinforcement (piping) see picture
Available with chrome plated or coated base
Available with glides for carpets or felt glides for hard floors
Please note: The chairs are delivered as standard with black gliders.
Function & Properties Not stackable
Suitable for outdoors (version with base in coated basic dark or white)
Care For cleaning the plastic surface a soft, damp cloth and a mild, neutral detergent are recommended.
Dust and lint can be vacuumed. For the treatment of stains, use a damp cloth and a mild, neutral detergent.
Professional cleaning should be undertaken with an upholstery foam or with a mobile washer-extractor.
Awards & Museum MoMA, New York
Certificates EN 13761 (Office furniture - Visitors chairs)
EN 1728 (Furniture - Seating)
Sustainability The Vitra Eames LAR is:
100% recyclable
contains up to 14% recycled material

Vitra conform to
ISO 9001: 2008 (Quality management systems)
ISO 14001: 2004 (Environmental management systems)

Since the beginning of the production year 2024 the Eames Plastic Chair seat shells have been been manufactured from a recycled material, the so-called RE plastic. RE plastic material consists of granules of recycled plastics from the German “Yellow Sack” packaging recycling system. This new material is not only recycled but 100% recyclable, In addition its production generates significantly lower climate-damaging emissions and requires less energy.

Since June 1st 2019 Vitra has been operated a take-back program: Eames Fibreglass Chairs and Eames Plastic Chairs that are no longer required can be returned to Vitra.
Warranty 24 months

Register product and secure extended manufacturer's warranty of 10 years
Accessories Matching seat pad and leather seat pads by Parkhaus Berlin or Seat Dots and Soft Seats (Typ A) by Vitra separately available.
Product family Eames Plastic Chairs


Datasheet Please click on the picture for detailed information (ca. 5,4 MB).

Popular versions

Eames Plastic Armchair RE LAR, Deep black, Seat upholstery nero, Chrome-plated
Eames Plastic Armchair RE LAR, Pale rose, Without upholstery, Chrome-plated
Eames Plastic Armchair RE LAR, Granite grey, Seat upholstery dark grey, Coated basic dark
Eames Plastic Armchair RE LAR, Green, Without upholstery, Coated basic dark
Eames Plastic Armchair RE LAR, Mustard, Without upholstery, Chrome-plated
Eames Plastic Armchair RE LAR, Pebble, Without upholstery, Chrome-plated
Eames Plastic Armchair RE LAR, Deep black, Full upholstery peetrol /moor brown, Coated basic dark
Eames Plastic Armchair RE LAR, Deep black, Seat upholstery nero, Coated basic dark
Eames Plastic Armchair RE LAR, Deep black, Without upholstery, Chrome-plated
Eames Plastic Armchair RE LAR, Pebble, Without upholstery, Coated basic dark
Eames Plastic Armchair RE LAR, Ice grey, Without upholstery, Coated basic dark
Eames Plastic Armchair RE LAR, Rusty orange, Seat upholstery cognac /ivory, Coated white
Eames Plastic Armchair RE LAR, Deep black, Full upholstery nero, Coated basic dark
Eames Plastic Armchair RE LAR, Sea blue, Without upholstery, Coated basic dark
Eames Plastic Armchair RE LAR, Forest, Without upholstery, Coated basic dark
Eames Plastic Armchair RE LAR, Pebble, Full upholstery warm grey / ivory, Chrome-plated
Eames Plastic Armchair RE LAR, White, Without upholstery, Chrome-plated
Eames Plastic Armchair RE LAR, Granite grey, Without upholstery, Coated basic dark
Eames Plastic Armchair RE LAR, Ice grey, Without upholstery, Chrome-plated
Eames Plastic Armchair RE LAR, Rusty orange, Without upholstery, Coated basic dark

FAQ

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Should the answers to your questions not be found here, our service team can be contacted Mon-Fri, 9 am - 5 pm via +49 341 2222 88 22.

What does LAR mean?

LAR means Lounge Height Armchair Rod Base.

How much weight can a Vitra Eames LAR support?

The Vitra Eames LAR meets the "GS" test standards and is tested up to 110 kg. The way in which the chair is used is also important. Swinging, for example, causes a higher strain which can reduce the chairs lifetime.

Are the Eames LAR chairs suitable for outdoor use?

Only the powder coated bases are suitable for outdoor use. The seat shell is made of through-dyed polypropylene, and special additives slow down colour fading due to UV radiation. Nevertheless, Vitra recommends not to expose the chairs to the sun longer than necessary. If the chair is left unused in the outdoor area, it is recommended to lean the chair diagonally against the table so that the water can drain on the seat. Felt glides are not suitable for outdoor use. The padded versions are not suitable for outdoor use.

How is the Eames LAR seat height measured?

The seat height is determined according to the European Standard EN 1335-1. This states that the chair is clamped in a special tester and loaded with a weight. The dimensions are then determined in the loaded state. The seat height is measured at a defined point in the seat area in the loaded condition. The stated seat height cannot be measured with a conventional measuring device, rather is a normalised comparison value so that different chairs (for example, with and without height adjustment, or with varying thickness of seat cushion, etc.) can be compared with one another.

How do I recognise an original Eames LAR Plastic Chair?

On the underside of the seat shell, the material marking PP indicates the polypropylene used for the shell, a seal certifies the safety of the chair and a sticker indicates the place of manufacture and serial number. In addition, Vitra always supplies the original fully assembled.

Design Story

The Design

Eames LAR black

The Eames Plastic Chairs are an integral part of contemporary homes and museums. But in the mid-twentieth century they wrote furniture history: developed by the designer couple Charles and Ray Eames in context of the MoMA's "Low Cost Furniture Design" competition in 1948, the collection of multi-purpose chairs to which the LAR belongs and their seat shells, which were perfectly adapted to the body, were an absolute novelty at that time. Previously, Ray and Charles Eames had experimented with a variety of materials and manufacturing processes, until they finally made the breakthrough with fiberglass-reinforced polyester resin: the recently discovered material was not only flexible, but also more cost effective than many other materials, thus the first mass-produced plastic chairs ever came onto the market with the famous collection of Eames Armchairs and Eames Side Chairs, while the ability to combine the seat shells with different bases for different seating positions allowed for enormous variety within the collection. The LAR - short for "Lounge Height Armchair Rod Base" - was one of the favourite designs of Charles and Ray Eames as a low lounge chair, historical footage shows the LAR in numerous places in their home, the legendary Eames House in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles. Thanks to its steel wire base, it has earned the charming nickname "Cat's Cradle", but it also resembles the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

Herstellung

Ray and Charles Eames originally designed the Plastic Side Chairs and Plastic Armchairs from the then unknown fiberglass-reinforced polyester resin. The chairs were the first serially produced synthetic chairs in furniture history. The Eames chairs were distributed by the American furniture producer Herman Miller and brought to Europe via Willi and Erika Fehlbaum with their very young company Vitra; before a few decades later, the then still revolutionary material, began to be considered ecologically untenable. The sustainable acting enterprise Vitra drew the consequences and stopped the production of the Eames Plastic Chairs from fiber glass in 1993. It was not until 1999 or 2004, when production from recyclable polypropylene was possible, that the Swiss company included the Eames Chairs back in their range. In the US Eames DSW et al. have since been made from more ecological polypropylene via Herman Miller. Thanks to the latest high-tech production methods, since 2018 Vitra has again been able to produce the Eames Fiberglass Chairs in their original material, albeit in a more sustainable way. The LAR was manufactured by Vitra until 1968, when it no longer complied with the then existing safety standards. In 2019, the LAR was relaunched following the completion of a series of modifications by Vitra in cooperation with the Eames Office.

The LAR has been relaunched in 2019

Designer

Ray and Charles Eames

Born in St. Louis in 1907, Charles Eames and Sacramento-born artist Ray Kaiser, later Ray Eames, created unique designs and made a major impact on the furniture style of the Mid-Century and beyond. Charles and Ray Eames met in 1940 at the Cranbook Academy of Art, where he directed the Department of Industrial Design and she studied painting. At that time Ray Kaiser assisted Charles Eames and Eero Saarinen in their preparations for the "Organic Furniture Competition" of the MoMA in New York. Married in 1941 the Eames' created, in addition to meticulously planned furniture design, graphics, textiles, film, exhibition design and photography. Both complement each other in a unique way: Charles Eames focused on technical details, Ray Eames dedicated herself to the aesthetics and graphic elements of her designer pieces. This is how the Eames Plastic Arm and Side Chair Collection came into being - functionally sophisticated and in appealing colour variations, which were mixed and tested in innumerable procedures by the designer couple Eames. In their famous Eames house in the Pacific Palisades district in Los Angeles, Charles and Ray Eames have artistically realized themselves. The house, completed in 1949, housed a studio from which they repeatedly revolutionized furniture design. Their designer furniture and home accessories had a significant impact on the breakthrough of modernity, were thoughtful and functional. When Charles Eames died on August 21st 1978, Ray Eames closed the Eames Studio in Los Angeles. Ray Eames died exactly ten years later.

Manufacturer

Historical context

Since the 1940s, the Eames Chairs, such as the LAR, have been produced by Herman Miller in the United States. Some ten years later the designs also came to Europe, after Vitra founders Erika and Willi Fehlbaum discovered the Eames Chairs during their trip to the USA in 1953, conducted many negotiations in the following years and finally acquired the licensing rights for Europe and the Middle East. Since 1959, the Swiss designer furniture manufacturer Vitra is the only authorized manufacturer of Eames designs for these regions and produces the Eames LAR and other Eames design furniture as well as home accessories. The Fehlbaums maintained a close relationship with the designers Charles and Ray Eames. So the physical Eames archive is not in the hands of Herman Miller or the Eames family, but Vitra. The furniture manufacturer is also highly ambitious and actively involved in the field of young designers: With the Vitra Campus in Weil am Rhein, the company has created a true oasis for advanced architecture and design ideas. The on-site Vitra Design Museum and Design Gallery also contribute to the versatile and modern image of Vitra with their exhibitions on design, art and culture.

The 1940s and 1950s were a time of upheaval in the US and Europe. Needs changed, consumer societies emerged, housing demand increased, living space was therefore rare and so the furniture industry was faced with the challenge to develop multifunctional and flexible furniture. European functionalism with its representatives, such as Arne Jacobsen and Alvar Aalto, also found access to the American design furniture market, and to Charles and Ray Eames. With their innovative ideas of moulded Eames Chairs with inter-changable bases, Charles and Ray Eames won 2nd place in 1948 at the MoMA's "Low Cost Furniture Design" contest. With military research from the end of the Second World War, Charles and Ray Eames further developed their designs: with fiberglass-reinforced polyester resin for their Eames Plastic Chair collection. The names of their plastic chairs all consist of abbreviations and are remnants of military-bureaucratic understanding from war days, when Charles and Ray Eames still maintained a company due to the high demand, which produced extremely successful moulded wood leg bracesfor the military. The Eames Arm and Side Chairs met the demand for Midcentury furniture, adaptable to be producible and affordable for the broader masses. The Eames multi-purpose chairs soon became an integral part of universities, restaurants, schools, offices and airports and eventually became one of the popular design classics in the late 1990s after a temporary halt in production.

The low LAR Lounge Chair with its characteristic Eiffel Tower base

The LAR Lounge Chair next to other Eames Plastic and Fiberglass Chairs

The Vitra Eames Shell Chairs: An Overview

Eames Plastic Chairs

Vitra Eames DSR
Dining Height Side Chair Rod Base

Vitra Eames DSR

Vitra Eames DSX
Dining Height Side Chair X-Base

Vitra Eames DSX

Vitra Eames DSW
Dining Height Side Chair Wood Base

Vitra Eames DSW

Vitra Eames PSCC
Pivot Side Chair Cast Base on Castors

Vitra Eames PSCC

Vitra Eames DSS-N / DSS
Dining Height Side Chair Stacking Base

Vitra Eames DSS-N / DSS

Vitra Eames DAR
Dining Height Armchair Rod Base

Vitra Eames DAR

Vitra Eames DAX
Dining Height Armchair X-Base

Vitra Eames DAX

Vitra Eames DAW
Dining Height Armchair Wooden Base

Vitra Eames DAW

Vitra Eames PACC
Pivot Armchair Cast Base on Castors

Vitra Eames PACC

Vitra Eames RAR
Rocking Armchair Rod Base

Vitra Eames RAR

Vitra Eames LAR
Lounge Height Armchair Rod Base

Vitra Eames LAR

Vitra Eames DAL
Dining Height Armchair La Fonda Base

Vitra Eames LAR

Eames Fiber Chairs

Vitra DSR Fiberglass
Dining Height Side Chair Rod Base

Vitra DSR Fiberglass

Vitra DSX Fiberglass
Dining Height Side Chair X-Base

Vitra DSX Fiberglass

Vitra DSW Fiberglass
Dining Height Side Chair Wood Base

Vitra DSW Fiberglass

Vitra DAR Fiberglass
Dining Height Armchair Rod Base

Vitra DAR Fiberglass

Vitra DAX Fiberglass
Dining Height Armchair X-Base

Vitra DAX Fiberglass

Vitra DAW Fiberglass
Dining Height Armchair Wooden Base

Vitra DAW Fiberglass

Vitra RAR Fiberglass
Rocking Armchair Rod Base

Vitra RAR Fiberglass

Vitra LAR Fiberglass
Lounge Height Armchair Rod Base

Vitra LAR Fiberglass

Eames Wire Chairs

Vitra DKR Wire Chair
Dining Height K-Wire Shell R-Wire Base

Vitra Eames DKR Wire Chair

Vitra Eames DKX Wire Chair
Dining Height K-Wire Shell X-Base

Vitra Eames DKX Wire Chair

Vitra Eames DKW Wire Chair
Dining Height K-Wire Shell Wood Base

Vitra Eames DKW Wire Chair

Vitra Eames DKR Wire Chair Checker
Dining Height K-Wire Shell R-Wire Base

Vitra Eames DKR Wire Chair Checker


Accessories

Soft Seats
Seat Dots

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