THE EAMESE HOUSE

Charles & Ray Eamese

Pacific Palisade, CA 1949

• In the mid-1940s, as the United States faced the postwar challenge of housing three million returning soldiers, a few architects in Southern California rejected the idea of identical houses in suburban developments. The "Case Study House Program" initiated in 1945 by Arts and Architecture magazine, enlisted the talents of eight architects including Richard Neutra and Eero Saarinen. The Eameses' architecture promised good design for minimal cost through the use of prefabricated standardized parts. At the end of World War II, the Eameses joined a larger movement of architects and builders aiming to supply veterans with affordable housing. From their own house in Los Angeles to their proposal for the do-it-yourself Kwikset House, the Eameses sought to bring "the good life" to the general public by integrating high and low art forms, modern materials and construction technologies, craft, and design. They advocated mass-production of architectural components, furnishings, and accessories as the ideal way to spread low-cost, high-quality modern design throughout America.

• Charles and Ray Eames were the "hypothetical" clients of Case Study House #8. The initial design for the site, now referred to as the Bridge House, was by Charles Eames and Eero Saarinen. Never built, it was a cantilevered structure rooted on an east-facing hill that stuck out through a row of Eucalyptus trees on a then-secluded site in Santa Monica Canyon. Because it was to be made of steel, its construction was delayed by the postwar materials shortage. But it was not until about 1948 that the material was actually delivered to the site. By that time much had happened to change Charles and Ray's understanding of the site. They had admired the row of trees along the bottom of the hill. When they looked at the delivered steel, Charles and Ray realized they had made the classic architectural error of choosing a beautiful site and then destroying it with a building. In a relatively short time, they redesigned the house to be built from the same pile of parts and needed to order only one extra beam to make the finished house.

Home

Page...1...2...3...4

Link to Introductory Page