Eames Style ES 104 – Lobby Chair – Tan Brown

ICONIC PIECE OF FURNITURE

The story of the most famous designer couple of American modernism began in 1940 at the Cranbrook Academy of Arts. There St. Louis born Charles Eames was working with the architect Eero Saarinen on their entry for the New York Museum of Modern Art’s “Low Cost Furniture” competition when Sacramento born Ray Kaiser was appointed their assistant. A year later Ray Kaiser and Charles Eames were married and thus sealed not only their personal relationship, but also began a very productive professional collaboration. Following their wedding Charles and Ray Eames moved to Los Angeles where they established the Eames Studio and developed innumerate projects which went beyond furniture and chairs, such as the ES 104 Executive Chair, to include films, textile designs, photographs and building designs. Especially for their functional designs, for which the two designers often developed new manufacturing methods, the Eames’ are considered so important in history of furniture design. The cooperation lasted until the death of Charles Eames’ in 1978, after which all the activities in the Eames Studio stopped.

The Eames Lobby Chair ES 104 was born into an America that was dominated by the rapid progress of popular culture and the increasing importance of consumption, phenomenon largely triggered by the economic boom of the postwar years. New materials and production techniques made it possible to produce furniture in large quantities for broad sections of the population at affordable prices. Ray and Charles Eames contributed in this context, repeatedly pioneering new production processes and new uses for new materials. In addition, they often created furniture collections as a means to meet the demand for flexible solutions for modern living and working spaces. Even the Vitra ES 104 originated as a small series. The Eames lobby chair is also available without wheels: as the ES 105 / ES 108 It is also available with a fixed four-foot base, with the ES 105 as wider and lower version, and as such offering the greatest potential for a comfortable lounge chair.