Eames Plastic Side Chair DSR

The Design

With the development of new production process and the use of new materials Charles and Ray Eames revolutionised furniture history. More than once. And although these days a perfectly normal feature of living rooms and commercial spaces around the globe, at its launch the Eames Plastic Chair family was a revolutionary. Created in context of the New York Museum of Modern Art's "International Competition for Low Cost Furniture" the design, consisting of a singular piece of fibreglass reinforced polyester resin, was awarded second place. From the initial idea quickly arose a family of multi-purpose chairs in both armchair and side chair versions and with range of bases. The Vitra Eames DSR having a four-legged base with a delicate wire base which beautifully embodies Charles and Ray Eames credo of providing "the most of the best to the greatest number of people for the least".

Maybe it was the extraordinary nature of their relationship that led Charles and Ray Eames to develop some of the most extraordinary furniture designs of the 20th century. Ray Eames was born in Sacramento, California in 1912, Charles Eames in 1907 in St. Louis, the pair met in 1940 at the Cranbrook Academy of Art where Charles Eames and Eero Saarinen were preparing for the New York Museum of Modern Art's "Organic Furniture Competition" A year later the pair married and established their design studio in Los Angeles from where, in addition to furniture design the pair worked across creative genres, most notable being their film, exhibition design and photography projects. Although all Charles and Ray Eames designs are officially attributed to both, the division of labour on the projects was clearly regulated: the trained architect Charles Eames being responsible for the technical aspects, the trained artist Ray Eames the aesthetic. Charles Eames died on august 21st 1978, on the same day Ray Eames closed the Eames Design Studio and exactly ten years later on August 21st 1988 Ray Eames passed away in Los Angeles.

Historical Context

In both the USA and Europe the 1940s and 1950s were a period of unprecedented, and often rapid, change. The war was over, all eyes were directed forward and everyday lives were dominated by new values, ideals and sense of being. With their DSR side chair Charles and Ray Eames met the new expectations of post-war society. An increased demand for property led to previously unheard increases in property prices forcing ever more families into smaller properties: a situation which demanded new types of furniture. New types of furniture that could also be mass produced to meet the rapidly expanding demand. Created in the new, revolutionary, material of fibreglass the Eames multi-purpose chair perfectly met these conditions. In addition the flexibility of the Eames plastic chair family meant that they quickly found use in public buildings, schools, and other locations looking for variable, inexpensive seating solutions. And so a chair born of necessity has become a global, and much loved, design classic.

Since the 1940s the furniture of Charles and Ray Eames has been produced in America by Herman Miller. In the 1950s Will and Erika Fehlbaum discovered a chair by Charles Eames in a shop window in New York and sought permission to produce Eames chairs in Europe. And so it came that since the late 1950's Vitra have been the officially licensed manufacturer of Charles and Ray Eames furniture designs for Europe and Asia. In addition to producing the pairs furniture a close, personal, relationship developed between Vitra and Charles and Ray Eames, so much so that today problems at Vitra are approached with the question "What would Charles and Ray do?".

A further indicator of the particular respect that existed between Charles and Ray Eames and Vitra is the fact that following Ray's death the Eames archive was entrusted to Vitra. From this archive Vitra are able, with permission from the Eames Estate, to regularly produce re-editions of long since forgotten Eames design classics. Beyond Charles and Ray Eames Vitra also have close professional relationships with leading contemporary designers such as Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec or Hella Jongerius. In addition to furniture, Vitra are also an important supporter of international architecture with their so-called Vitra Campus in Weil am Rhein hosting buildings by leading contemporary architects including Zaha Hadid, Frank Gehry or SANAA.