Mid Century Modern Interiors Icons: The Wire Chair
After the huge success obtained with the Molded Fiberglass and Plywood chairs, in the early 50s Charles and Ray Eames designed a chair that will become a Mid-Century design classic: the Eames Wire Chair.
The main characteristic of the Wire chair is its transparency that combined with its sculptural quality made it a rare object for the postwar furniture design. Even though Charles and Ray always considered the influence of fine art as secondary to the industrial processes, in this case the artistic value of the object is amazingly combined with its industrial process to achieve iconic status. The combination between the artistic side of Ray and the engineering sensibility of Charles is probably the secret behind this object.
The Wire chair can be compared to previous fiberglass side-chairs like the DAR(1948) and the DSR (1950), and even though its shape is quite similar to them it is based on a completely different technology. Charles and Ray Eames loved to experiment new industrial processes and that's why the Wire is a symbol of their design philosophy.
The organic form offers comfort without the need for upholstery, although the chair readily accepted seat or back pads, which also create a beautiful pattern. It is a design that may be translated via interchangeable range bases, to suit a wide variety of applications. The most iconic of these bases is the 'Eiffel Tower' base, which creates a dramatic vision of fine cross-hatching of chrome or black steel.
The use of the new technology of resistance-welding in furniture design expressed a futuristic vision through lightness and form. Although there is still some debate over whose design come first, the Charles and Ray Eameses' chair or Harry Bertoia'a mesh furniture for Knoll, the first American mechanical patent was awarded to the Eames design.
Charles and Ray Eames led the international postwar design period with industrially produced furniture designs and systems for seating. Using a manufacturing base that was unaffected by the war, they utilized technology to create rational and sculptural designs, advocating organic Modernism. Their revolutionary designs made Herman Miller a world leader in the production of office and domestic furniture. The couple went to excel in the creation of film and exhibition design. The wire chair proved to be immediately successful and the international market for this now timeless design remains strong.
The main characteristic of the Wire chair is its transparency that combined with its sculptural quality made it a rare object for the postwar furniture design. Even though Charles and Ray always considered the influence of fine art as secondary to the industrial processes, in this case the artistic value of the object is amazingly combined with its industrial process to achieve iconic status. The combination between the artistic side of Ray and the engineering sensibility of Charles is probably the secret behind this object.
The Wire chair can be compared to previous fiberglass side-chairs like the DAR(1948) and the DSR (1950), and even though its shape is quite similar to them it is based on a completely different technology. Charles and Ray Eames loved to experiment new industrial processes and that's why the Wire is a symbol of their design philosophy.
The organic form offers comfort without the need for upholstery, although the chair readily accepted seat or back pads, which also create a beautiful pattern. It is a design that may be translated via interchangeable range bases, to suit a wide variety of applications. The most iconic of these bases is the 'Eiffel Tower' base, which creates a dramatic vision of fine cross-hatching of chrome or black steel.
The use of the new technology of resistance-welding in furniture design expressed a futuristic vision through lightness and form. Although there is still some debate over whose design come first, the Charles and Ray Eameses' chair or Harry Bertoia'a mesh furniture for Knoll, the first American mechanical patent was awarded to the Eames design.
Charles and Ray Eames led the international postwar design period with industrially produced furniture designs and systems for seating. Using a manufacturing base that was unaffected by the war, they utilized technology to create rational and sculptural designs, advocating organic Modernism. Their revolutionary designs made Herman Miller a world leader in the production of office and domestic furniture. The couple went to excel in the creation of film and exhibition design. The wire chair proved to be immediately successful and the international market for this now timeless design remains strong.
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