Watch Films by Designers Charles & Ray Eames

It seems that the couple, who were the most respected designers in the United States and influenced 20th century designers the most, were warm-hearted designers.

Charles was a designer, architect, and film producer, and he studied architecture again at the University of Cranbrook and became a professor.

Married to Ray Eames, who majored in Art met at the Cranbrook college of Fine Arts in 1941, then their research is based on creative partnerships and makes groundbreaking contributions across architecture, furniture design and industrial design.

Combining Ray's artistic sense with Charles' engineering skills, Ray and Charles' Design Process creates a strong system of cooperation. Their concept was a design that could make functional products with simple processes and satisfy both affordability and comfort.

In addition, this video-films they created will give a glimpse into their new way of thinking about design.

The first home they designed and built together in 1949 as part of the Case Study House Program became “a mecca for architects and designers from both near and far,” notes the Eames Office site. “Today it is considered one of the most important post-war residences anywhere in the world.” “Famous for their iconic chairs,” writes William Cook at the BBC, the streamlined objets that “transformed our idea of modern furniture,” they were also “graphic and textile designers, architects and filmmakers.”

The Eames’ film legacy may be less well-known than their revolutions in interior design. We’ve all seen or interacted with innumerable versions of Eames-inspired designs, whether we knew it or not. The pair stated their desire to make universally useful creations in their succinct mission statement: “We want to make the best for the most for the least.” They meant it. “What works good,” said Ray, “is better than what looks good because what works good lasts.”

When design “works good,” the Eames understood, it might be attractive, or purely functional, but it will always be accessible, unobtrusive, comfortable, and practical. We might notice its contours and wonder about its principles, but it works equally well, and maybe better, if we do not. The Eames films explain how one accomplishes such design. “Between 1950 and 1982,” the Eames “made over 125 short films ranging from 1-30 minutes in length,” notes the Eames Office site, declaring: “The Eames Films are the Eames Essays.” (Josh Jones)