The Eames house was not a stand alone project but it was designed and built along side the Entenza house which was to be its complement. This project was not unique either but it was part of the Case Study Housing program set up and sponsored by Arts and Architecture magazine under the leadership of John Entenza. This program was the practical implementation of designs from an earlier competition organized by the same journal into 'designs for post-war living' which aimed to design houses which used the technologies developed during the war to produce modern, easily replicable houses which could be built through out the country. For this reason, there was an emphasis on the buildings being prefabricated. The program was also championing modernist ideals in what could have been seen as an opportunistic manner with its launch occuring just before the end of WWII and with the original design competition happening a year or two before. The results of this unique program were some of Americas most iconic modernist homes.
More about the Case Study Houses Program at:
http://www.artsandarchitecture.com/case.houses/index.html
More about the Case Study Houses Program at:
http://www.artsandarchitecture.com/case.houses/index.html
Design Specification
Reference: Eames,C. & Saarinen, E (1945) Case Study Houses 8 & 9, Arts and Architecture, [Online] Arts and Architecture (December), p. 43, Available from: http://www.artsandarchitecture.com/issues/pdf01/1945_12.pdf [Accessed: 10th October 2014]
The original drawings for case studies 8 & 9 by Charles and Eero were published in December, 1945 in Arts and Architecture magazine and were designed to make use of war born technologies (prefabricated steel frames) and maximise the view toward the Pacific ocean which the buildings shared without compromising the privacy of either house. They were also designed to be functional homes for a couple (Charles an Ray Eames) and Individual (John Entenza) which had 'parallel interests' but also agreed 'on the necessity of privacy.' For this reason both houses were to have a glazed wall on their south sides whilst window openings on the north side of the Eames House were to be restricted to avoid being overlooked by their neighbour. Plantings were also to be made to further screen the house from each other.
Reference: Eames,C. & Saarinen, E. (1945) Case Study Houses 8 & 9, Arts and Architecture, [Online] Arts and Architecture (December), p. 44, Available from: http://www.artsandarchitecture.com/issues/pdf01/1945_12.pdf [Accessed: 10th October 2014]
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Reference: Steele, J. (1994), Eames House Charles And Ray Eames, Architecture In Detail, Phaidon Press Limited
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Reference: Eames,C. & Saarinen, E. (1945) Case Study Houses 8 & 9, Arts and Architecture, [Online] Arts and Architecture (December), p. 43, Available from: http://www.artsandarchitecture.com/issues/pdf01/1945_12.pdf [Accessed: 10th October 2014]
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The Eames House was to be comprised of two units: a studio and the main house. These were originally to be 'arranged in an L' with the studio on the north side of the site and the single story living component 'cantilevered on two slender columns' across the meadow from the steep embankment that lay to the west of the house. The Eameses referred to this as the 'bridge house'. Internally, the house was characterized by flexible, bright, large open served spaces with unobstructed views towards the ocean with all the service spaces located to the rear of the property. This design by Eames and Saarinen was not only striking but it also captured all the ideals of a modernist at the time, used the latest technologies, and met the clients brief, however, this is not the house that was built as shown on by the site maps above. The reasons for this vary depending on whom you chose to believe. James Steele (1994) suggest that following a visit to a Mies van der Rohe exhibition around the time of the build, Charles Eames spotted the sketch for Farnsworth House which looked very similar to the design for his own home and 'was concerned about being derivative and changed the design to avoid this criticism.' You would be tempted to believe taking into account Ray's account which states he changed his mind after the delivery of the steels. However, another account states that 'Charles and Ray had fallen in love with the meadow and felt the site required a different solution.' What ever the true reasons, the plans were changed to bring the main house on the same line as the studio. It was also changed from a single story dwelling to a two story dwelling with a court yard garden place between the two buildings. This new orientation of the house through up some new problems in the build; the glazed wall was now facing directly at the Entenza House which meant privacy was compromised and the view to the sea now limited. The privacy issue was overcome by planting a row of eucalyptus trees as a barrier between the two houses and these have grown to such an extent that the house is more or less hidden from view by them. Coloured screens were also employed on the front for aesthetic and privacy reasons. The arrangements of the spaces within seem to have been derived from the original drawings with a hall way still running along the front of the house allowing views out to the meadow from virtually every room and all the service spaces being gathered towards the north side of the house leading to the courtyard and studio beyond. This final design with its Modrianistic facade has become world famous for many reasons including its prefabricated frame and home mad home furnishings, but one cant help but wonder, could it have been better.
Reference: Steele, J. (1994), Eames House Charles And Ray Eames, Architecture In Detail, Phaidon Press Limited http://www.eamesfoundation.org/eames-house-history/ |
MATERIALITY
Steel-i beams are used because they do not bend and a lot of open spaces are created when they are used, unfortunately wooden beams do not have this quality. This is very suitable for the Eames house as one of the main positives of the house is the spaciousness. Eames house is mostly covered in glass, however we can observe that the glass is divided into small rectangles, so i think the idea behind it is to be able to provide a excellent view to the pacific ocean and as much lighting in the house as possible without sacrificing privacy, We can say that the coloured panels used in the eames house is to represent the styles of Charles and Ray Eames as we seen this in many of their work.
. 2014. . [ONLINE] Available at:http://myweb.wit.edu/ngoa/architecture/arch245/precedent.pdf. [Accessed 23 October 2014]
Purpose
It was constructed as a Case Study House,which was an experiment sponsored by Arts and Architecture magazine. I personally feel that Charles and Ray were trying to represents the simplicity of modern architecture, this is shown again in the way they designed a house mainly out of rectangles. “Eventually everything connects- people, ideas, objects. The quality of the connection is the key to quality per se” Charles Eames, the house of cards is a prime example of this, we ca also see this quality of connecting objects in the eames house. Even almost 66 years after Charles and Ray have designed this house, similar style of buildings are still being built in all over the world, therefore we could say that the Eames have been key and contributed a lot to modern architecture and changing the face of interior design.
The Foundry Community :: Forums :: Eames House of Training Materials . 2014. The Foundry Community :: Forums :: Eames House of Training Materials . [ONLINE] Available at:http://community.thefoundry.co.uk/discussion/topic.aspx?f=8&t=36824. [Accessed 23 October 2014].
Banner Image Reference: Eames,C. & Saarinen, E (1945) Case Study Houses 8 & 9, Arts and Architecture, [Online] Arts and Architecture (December), p. 45, Available from: http://www.artsandarchitecture.com/issues/pdf01/1945_12.pdf [Accessed: 10th October 2014]