charles and ray eames

Charles and Ray Eames (1907–1978, 1912–1988) were an iconic American design duo whose multidisciplinary approach transformed the fields of architecture, furniture, industrial design, film, and visual communication. Charles Eames was trained as an architect before moving to Michigan’s Cranbrook Academy of Art, where he met Ray Kaiser, an abstract painter born in 1912 in Sacramento, California.

Their creative partnership began in 1940 and flourished through the founding of the Eames Office, a Los Angeles-based design studio known for its pioneering use of molded plywood, fiberglass, and accessible industrial materials. Together, they produced timeless classics like the Eames lounge chair and ottoman (1956), the Eames molded plywood chair, and the Powers of Ten film (1977).