Essential Eames

Book excerpt: Charles and Ray Eames are counted among the leading designers of the twentieth century. Perhaps best known for their furniture designs, the Eameses also made pioneering contributions to the fields of architecture (Eames House, Los Angeles), film (Powers of Ten), exhibitions ("Mathematica"), toys (House of Cards), graphics, and much more. Underlying all this work was a robust and compelling philosophy of design. "Essential Eames: Words and Pictures" draws from their lifetimes of speeches and writings, as well as an archive of nearly one million photographs taken by Charles and Ray Eames and their office staff over the course of four decades of work.