Saturday, February 28, 2009

lunch with the Eames

Today I got to take a little road trip to visit the 8th house in the 1940's Case Study program; the home of Charles and Ray Eames.

A little bit of history: the program was created to challenge architects and designers to build modern-day housing with materials derived from World War II (i.e., simple, industrial, economic). The couple decided to build the home for themselves rather than a hypothetical client and began designs for an efficient living space and work studio that would "make no demands for itself but would instead serve as a background for life in work, with nature as a shock-absorber."



The lot sits atop a hillside overlooking the ocean and surrounded in lush green. After scrapping the plans for a cantilevered box because it didn't do justice to the meadow, the Eames opted for a simple plan, nested into the hillside. The home was constructed with prefabricated off-the-shelf parts and was considered a conscious move in a post-war era. Charles and Ray finished the home in 1949 and lived there the rest of their lives.



the image on the left is the doorbell. so cool!


the studio loft




In design school we learned about the many talents of Charles and Ray Eames and it was amazing to see the culmination of their work in this iconic home.

For more information visit the Eames Foundation



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