Charles and Ray Eames are among the most important American designers of this century. They are best known for their groundbreaking contributions to architecture, furniture design, industrial design and manufacturing, and the photographic arts.
Charles and Ray married in 1941, moving to California where they continued their furniture design work with molding plywood. During the war they were commissioned by the Navy to produce molded plywood splints, stretchers and experimental glider shells. In 1946, Evans Products began producing the Eameses’ molded plywood furniture. Their molded plywood chair was called “the chair of the century” by the influential architectural critic Esther McCoy. Soon production was taken over by Herman Miller, Inc, who continues to produce the furniture in the United States to this day. Another company, Vitra International, manufactures the furniture in Europe.
According to Vitra, the influence of Charles and Ray Eames was fundamental to their development as a furniture manufacturer, which began in 1957 with the production of the Eamses designs. With their approach to and understanding of design, they made an ongoing contribution to the values and goals of the company.
Examples include the molded plastic or fiberglass chairs from the early 1950s and the famous Lounge Chair and Ottoman from 1956. Sturdy, comfortable and elegant office furniture was created in the 1960s, as well as seating designed for Dulles and O’Hare Airports. This Tandem Sling Seating is still in use in airports around the world today. The Eameses continued to create new furniture designs into the 1970s.
Charles and Ray received many honorary degrees and awards from universities and organizations across the country. Charles was an appointee to the National Council of the Arts and held the Charles Eliot Norton Professorship at Harvard in 1970-71. Ray served on the panel of “The Arts, Education, and Americans” set up by the American Council for the Arts in Education.
Charles died August 21, 1978. Ray died ten years later to the day. The Eames Office still operates today, run by Charles’ daughter, designer Lucia Eames.
Kaare Klint
Kaare Klint founded the furniture school at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen in 1924, and as a professor here he shaped many of the young designers, most notably Poul Kjærholm and Børge Mogensen.
Klint’s designs and teaching renewed Danish design. A clear and logical construction was Klint’s own demand; nothing superfluous, only honest, pure lines, exquisite materials, good craftsmanship, everything down to the smallest detail. Many of Klint’s designs are more in demand today than possibly ever before, because it is superbly crafted, of good quality and perfectly fitted for modern living
Ib Kofod-Larsen
Ib Kofod-Larsen was educated at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen and throughout his life was very active in furniture design. He was an exuberant designer, actively designing for the furniture industry as well as for smaller cabinetmakers throughout Copenhagen.
Kofod-Larsen created industrial and furniture designs, reflective of the Scandinavian trend towards organic, functional style. He enjoyed commercial success in Denmark throughout the 50s and 60s, with his sideboards by Faarup winning him immediate recognition, He participated in many competitions for Danish craftsmen and won various awards including Gold Prize at the HOLMEGAARDS glass competition. One of his most famous works is Elizabeth Chair (IL-01) in1956. In the early sixties, Kofod Larsen designed a range for G-plan in the United Kingdom.
His use of wooden materials and clean modern design makes all of his pieces timeless and classic, adaptable to modern and traditional environments.
Danish designer N.O Møller completed his apprenticeship as a cabinetmaker in 1939, and continued his education at the design school in Aahus. In 1944 he founded J.L Møller Møbelfabrik and worked as an independent furniture designer and producer creating elegant designs in teak and rosewood. The company has received many awards including the Danish Furniture Makers’ awards for:The Furniture Prize for 1974, and The Furniture Prize for 1981. The company is still active and owned by the Møller family.
Hans J.Wegner 1914 – 2007
Hans J.Wegner has become a worldwide icon, as one of the most influential designers of the 20th century. He began his career as a cabinetmaker in 1931 and subsequently entered the Copenhagen School of Arts & Crafts. After receiving his architectural degree in 1938, he worked as a designer in Arne Jacobsen and Erik Møller’s architectural office before establishing his own in 1943.
Over the years, he designed over 500 chairs with many different wood types and styles. His style is based on clean, simple lines. To Wegner a chair was an artwork as much as a functional object. One of his well-known philosophies was that a furniture design should be beautiful from every angle and that it should not have a backside.
Over his career he received many international accolades for his work, from his “Round chair” being declared the most beautiful chair in the world by American Interiors magazine in 1954 to being awarded an Honary Doctorate in June 1997 by the The Royal College of Art in London.
His designs have been described as ‘timeless’, ‘everlasting’, ‘perfect to the fullest extent of what is possible’, and ‘free from passing trends’.
Though Wegner designed for series production, Wegner took part in the entire production process. After completing the drawings he was in the workshop with the cabinetmakers carrying out the prototypes and overseeing the workmanship. Wegner worked with furniture producers such as Johannes Hansen, Andreas Tuck, Carl Hansen, Getama, Ry Furniture, AP Chair and PP Möbler, some of his designs still being produced there today. Being able to industrially produce the designs made the furniture more accessible and today the furniture is represented in a great number of Danish homes as well as abroad and here in Australia.
Arne Vodder 1926 – 2009
Born in Denmark , architect Arne Vodder studied in Copenhagen under his friend and mentor the legendary Danish designer Finn Juhl. The pair later worked together as they went on to establish themselves as the pre-eminent Scandinavian designers of the mid-century period.
Vodder started designing furniture for Fritz Hansen, France & Son and Sibast, the latter for which he designed a wide range of furniture which received worldwide recognition and success. His beautiful designs were subtly detailed and modest in their expression. Draw and cupboard handles in organic shapes seamlessly integrate into the overall designs.
Today, Vodder is perhaps most appreciated for his beautiful rosewood and teak sideboards of the 50-60′s, produced by Sibast Furniture. Arne’s designs from the period, with their stylish materials and exacting proportions, remain contemporary and modern, in strong demand more than 50 years after they were last produced.
