Charles & Ray Eames

Ray and Charles Eames

From two individuals on separate lines of study in life, it became one of the most renowned couple in the design world development which still effects the world of today.

Charles Ormand Eames started as an architectural student in Washington University in 1929. Later he opened an architectural firm in St louis and was a keen fan of the famous architect's work of Frank Loyd Wright. On the other hand Ray Eames started as a student in collage which later continued her studies with Hans Hofmann studying Abstract expressionist painting.

The couple met at Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigen were Charles was working as a teacher and Ray was attending in the academy as a student. One can state that their romance was one of the most important love stories for the Design world as later in their life they moved forward and gave influence to the design all over the world by their hard work in exploring new designs for furniture and products and even their contribution for the development of new materials and techniques which regard the manufacturing of products and the selection and manipulation of new materials.

One of the most important leap forward in their career which effected their design ideas and the world in general in different ways was when their started to experiment in wood bending. In 1942 Ray and Charles developed and designed the Eames Splint for the U.S Navy which was a piece of bent wood which will hold the legs of injured soldiers in battle. This splint was modeled and developed on Charles Eames himself. It was estimate that 150,000 units were made. 

Leg splints manufacture from Bent Plywood for the U.S Navy by Charles and Ray Eames

After a year of studying and exploring the options and techniques in bending wood which led to their work for The U.S Navy , Ray and Charles Eames started to design various furniture and other products which featured bent plywood. This technique in wood gave them options in designing furniture such as their famous chairs which features different curves which also improved ergonomics which were made from a single sheet of plywood.

Charles and Ray Eames bent wood chair

Another great contribution which Charles and Ray Eames made to the industry and to the world in general was the start of using plastic for their products that were being manufactured . They were the first to industrially manufacture plastic chairs. their designed chairs are still being manufactured today, The only difference and  improvement made in today's manufacturing of the product designed by the Eames is that nowadays a more eco-friendly materials are being used instead of the plastics that were available in their time.

Ray And Charles Eames plastic chair

Apart from wooden and plastic chairs Ray and Charles introduced wire mesh chairs. These chairs were made from metal wires transformed into a designers chair that was steady and lightweight. such chairs are still in production today and many companies are using this type of design for their chairs. Some Designers today are inspired by the work of Ray and Charles Eames such as Tom Dixon. Tom Dixon designed a series of chairs that are manufactured by using metal wires. In some of his product such as the Link Easy Chair, the influance of the Eames is evident in the design of this chair as it incorporated Tom Dixon's ideas with the design of Ray and Charles design.

Charles and Ray Eames wire chair

Tom Dixon's metal wire chair

Reference:

Eames. 2013. Eames House. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.eameshouse250.org/timeline.html. [Accessed 30 November 13].

The Architecture of Art Deco

A movement which started in the beginning of the 20th century at the era of Bauhaus and the International style which both of them left an impact on the architectural world. The Art Deco was not just a movement which effected the architectural world but it left a huge impact on furniture, art and fashion.

The movement started in 1925 in a great exhibition that display Nouveau designs in the french museum ' Le Musee des Arts Decoratifs'.

As a movement the Art Deco was one which displayed  dominance in architecture as the features of it's architectural design showed the importance of the building. The design  of Art Deco was used by big business for their building design as it was ideal to express the wealth and strength of the company by the characteristics of the design such as the vertical geometric shapes which were bold in the design as buildings that started to be designed in the Art Deco style in the cities were more prominent than other ordinary building. A clear example of a dominant building which still dominate the skyline of New York is the Empire State Building.

Empire State Building

Although the different movements of Art Deco, Bauhaus and International Style took place in the same era, the work produced were much different then each other. Bauhaus took a different and more contemporary approach which combined the mass production with contemporary design and introduction of new materials. Art Deco was a movement which its architecture stated dominance with the bulky vertical geometrical shapes combined with decorative ornaments on the top of the building , and the international style took different approach in architectural design and different approach to the construction of buildings.

When it comes to the design of Art Deco, one of the main features of the building which is the windows were built in a continuous horizontal strips of glass almost like the ordinary windows that we find in common buildings. In contrast the this type of window construction, the architects from the International Style were heading to a new approach in design and started to design buildings with large windows like thew were trying to invite the outside inside their home. A key element in design which gave them the chance to do so was their new approach in construction by using pillars inside they managed to reduce the sizes of the wall and enlarge the windows. This feature enabled to create new way of inserting large windows as less supporting walls were needing unlike the construction of Art Deco buildings which needed larger walls to support the structure.

International Style building

Reference:

wenthworth. 2013. wenthworthstudio. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.wentworthstudio.com/historic-styles/art-deco. [Accessed 28 November 13].

Rendy Juster. 2010. Decopix. [ONLINE] Available at: http://decopix.com/about_art_deco_architecture/. [Accessed 28 November 13].

The International Style And The Change In Architecture

A step forward in architecture by the name of The International Style which was officially named by the publish of the catalog which was written by Henry-Russell Hitchcock and Phillip Johnson in 1922 for an architectural exhibition held in the Museum of Modern Art in 1922. Hitchcock and Johnson defined three important characteristics for the International Style which were "Perception of architecture as volume rather than mass, Regularity instead of Symmetry and avoidance of extraneous ornamentation".

Developed in Europe and the United States of America in 1920's and 30's , it dominated the majority of the architectural design in mid 20th century and is still influencing some architects of today. The main characteristics of the design which was introduced in the International style is the introduction of a " visually weightless " visual aspects with the removal of applied ornaments which was common in architecture especially from buildings which remark Art Nouveau. when comparing the architectural design of both of movements one can see a clear and bold difference in the approach of design with the International movement stating the famous "less is more" and the growth of amount of certain materials which were introduced in the design.

A drastic change from highly decorated Art Nouveau architecture to Simple architecture of International Style

A drastic increase in the use of glass can be notices which contrast well with the previous design which were build with small windows and huge concrete walls. To  remove the bulkiness of the concrete walls a construction method which used steel frames gave the architecture " weightless structure" with less visible concrete. This method which was introduced by architects in from the International Style era is used in today's architecture. this breakthrough in design by the international style architects paved the way to today's architects such as Zaha Hadid. Although Zaha Hadid style consists of strange organic shapes, the principle in construction by using steel frames for construction. If this method was not introduced by the architects of the time, the design of Zaha Hadid and other of today's architects would be rather impossible to produce,

The Buildings which were designed in the era reassembles the work of Walter Gropius and Le Corbusier from the Bauhaus movements which was going on in the same era. Both architects and architects of the international style were using the same principles in their design.

Philips Pavilion By Le Corbusier

Heydar Aliyev Cultural Centre By Zaha Hadid

Steel construction frame of Zaha Hadid's Heydar Alyev Cultural Centre

Le Corbusier which was instrumental in Bauhaus was a great influence in the International movement. He pointed out 5 points which described the "new style " of  The International Movement. these are the points which Le Corbusier pointed out,

Building Designed by Le Corbusier

-The introduction of pillars or stilts for the building support which gives more interior space for various functions such as parking. More valuable space was earned by the support concrete or steel pillars which supported the ceiling and building load.

- Free Plan, freer and larger interior was made possible by the introduction of pillars and the removal of supporting walls which gave the architects wider choices for their design.

-Ribbon or Stripes of windows. By using just concrete and bricks  limited the amount and size of the windows in the buildings designed before The International Movement. By the introduction of pillars structure support enabled the architects to use larger windows which caused more natural light to enter in the interior of the building.

Le Corbusier himself preferred horizontal ribbon of windows to light the space in a uniform way.

- Free Facade

- Roof  Gardening which served for more neutral environment awareness and insulation for the building itself.

The 5 elements in architectural design which Le Corbusier is Now a days commonly used in today's architectural design especially the introduction of steel frame, pillars or stilts supporting the structure with introduction of parking spaces inside the building itself and other elements which The International Movement introduced into the design world which changes the way of architectural design today.


Reference-

artlog. (2013). The International Movement. Available: http://www.artlog.co.il/telaviv/what.html. Last accessed 24th November 2013.

Brittanica. (2013). The International Movement. Available: http://www.britannica.com/. Last accessed 23th November 2013.

Bauhaus

The Bauhaus movement introduced it self into the history in 1919 in Weimar and in its short period of time it was intended to introduce different ways of thinking when it comes to design and design education. The blame for its short period of time is the Nazi government which interfered in the education facility of Bauhaus.

Bauhaus building in Weimar

Founded by German architect Walter Gropius, the intentions of Bauhaus were to introduce different style of design education were it combine the elements of art with elements of design. students that came from different areas of studies and community were introduced to the preliminary course which introduced the student to the study of materials, Color theory and formal relationships in preparation to more specific studies further on.

One of the concepts of Bauhaus was to make a reform in art education to boost the German economic stability.It was intended to further strengthen it's labor force and with more professional and thoughtful approach to design, Germany was to become an exporter of more Hi-quality and sophisticated product to contradict the lack of natural resources that Germany own by increasing the income from these product exports. This objective by Bauhaus was reached as still today's German design is renominated for it perfection and for the excellence of German products.

Bauhaus student's were introduced to different materials and were assigned in different workshops which included metal working, cabinet making, weaving, typography, pottery and wall painting. Walter Gropius had the idea of combining arts through crafts but later in progress it was realized that it was impracticable and later  the importance of mass production was emphasized  and the slogan of "Art into industry" was adopted inside the Bauhaus.

Bauhaus building in Dessau

In 1925 Bauhaus was transfered to Dessau in a new building designed by Gropius himself with the interior of this building which was designed by some of the staff and students of Bauhaus. In this period Bauhaus, one of the most popular workshop was that of cabinet making which was under the diction of Marcel Breuer which himself took an innovative approach in design. Inspired from his bicycle , Breuer introduce the used of metal tubing in furniture, a development which is still being used in the most of today's products and furniture. he introduced the used of metal tubing which led to lightweight chair that can bee mass produced . Some of his Chairs were later produced and installed in the theater of Dessau's Building.

The metal tubing chair designed by Marcel Breuer

This technique of bending metal tubing today is very popular and used by  famous designer which produce high end products. one example if the "wire dining chair" which is designed by Tom Dixon. This chair was inspired by a paper clip and with Tom's creative design was transformed into a contemporary dining chair. same techniques were used in pipe bending, which are the same that Breuer developed in the Bauhaus era. c

The wire dining chair by Tom Dixon, Designed in 21st Century

During the world war II, most of the key figures of Bauhaus emigrated to the united States which were a great influence to yound architects and designers. Marcel Breuer and Joseph Albert taught at Yale, Gropius moved on in Harvard and Moholy-Nagy established the New Bauhaus in Chicago in 1937.


Reference:

Griffith Winton, Alexandra. "The Bauhaus, 1919–1933". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/bauh/hd_bauh.htm (August 2007)

The Dream Which Changed The World

It all started as a dream for Henry Ford to revolutionized the technique a process of manufacturing to make it more economical and introduce mass production for greater production which leads to cheaper products that can me purchased by most of the population

On 1^st December 1913, the world of manufacturing took a leap forward as Henry Ford introduced to the rest of the world the first moving assembly line.

Henry Ford

In 1908 the Ford Model T was introduced and was manufactured in a less mass produced world. The car was manufactured in one area without moving during the process. Every single part of the car was built for that particular car which was not efficient as if any problems occurred during the use of the car no parts were available on the market. Another problem before the introduction of the Assembly line was that as the product took much longer time to complete, the process was not affordable for the majority of the population.

Fords Assembly line

After the introduction of the assembly line, cars were much cheaper and Henry Ford introduced the 8 hour shift instead of the previous 9 hour shift to create the 3 shifts for continuous production.  Although the workers worked less hours in the factory, none of their wages were cut. Instead Ford doubled their pay to $5 a day. This is another significant improvement that the introduction of the assembly line impacted on the factory and its workers. This scheme was possible as the production raised with the car becoming cheaper and more affordable for the majority of the population that led to rise in sales.

Another major change after the introduction of the assembly line was the availability of parts.as the production grew Henry Ford introduced parts that fits all the model that was manufactured by them that were available without the need to be ordered custom made for the specific car.

all these changes that Henry Ford introduced to the world are still being used today . Although today’s technology is much greater than that available at Henry Ford’s time, the same principles are being used today. Some examples are the whole assembly line concept and the concept of manufacturing without stopping which leads to mass production and cheaper products. The way how workers are trained on a single assembly job instead of having to build the whole product from start to finish which boost the whole production. The way that automatic machines were introduced to the factory as in today’s factories some of the work is done by computer operated robots. And the idea of incorporating all of his ideas for a cheaper product that will be available for everybody

Today's assembly line

Reference :

Jennifer L. Goss. (2013). Henry Ford and the Assembly LineAvailable:http://history1900s.about.com/. Last accessed 13/11/2013.

History. (2013). Ford's assembly line starts  rolling  Available:http://history1900s.about.com/od/1910s/a/Ford--Assembly-Line.htm. Last accessed 13/11/2013.                                  

The Steam Engine

An invention that revolutionized the entire world and one of the pioneers of the modern life is the steam engine. Apart of the steam engine itself this invention led to several other new inventions that we still use in today’s life. During the industrial revolution the invention of the steam engine also improved the systems of transportation and better factory equipment which led to greater production.

James watt's steam engine design used in factories for production machine

A problem while mining for coal was that the coal mines were flooding by water and with this situation a new solution was much needed as the new mining proceeded in greater depths. The pumps that were being used were driven by horses and the power was insufficient to keep up the demand.

Invertors were trying to create something new to solve this problem and they were very enthusiast as they were motivated by the amount of profit they make if the invent something that will solve this problem.

In 1698, military engineer Thomas Sovery invented the first crude steam engine based on Dennis Popin’s pressure cooker design from 1678. BY this invention, Thomas started to solve the problem of pumping water out of coal mines.

Thomas Sovery's first steam engine design.

This invention led to more development from other inventors such as Thomas Newcomen who put together the first prototype of modern steam engine which he invented in 1712 that was known as the atmospheric steam engine.

After the work done by previous inventors, in 1765 James Watt  developed and improved previous designs of steam engine.by development made by Watt  in the design of the steam engine, he contributed and helped the industrial revolution to boost its manufacturing by the steam engine because a lot of mechanical machines were being created to improve productivity.

James Watt's steam engine in use during mining during the industrial revolution

Matthew Baulton introduced the steam engine to the industry by making the first workshop manufacturing products by using steam engine powered machines which ended the long era of manufacturing products by small families in their peaceful rural areas.

He bought the Soho House and transformed it into a metal factory, the one which started using steam powered equipment for production. These events kick-started the mass production.

Matthew Baulton the founder of Soho House

Later in America, in the beginning of the 20^th century, Henry Ford continued to equip the industry by introducing the first ever production line assembly which is still the most important design even in today’s mass production factories.

Industrial Revolution

Industrial revolution

Nowadays we take every product that we use in everyday life for granted as we are used to a mass production world. Before the industrial revolution nobody all over the world ever imagined of mass produced products that can be found a lot cheaper from every shop in town.

Before the industrial revolution there were no machines or tools for mass production, the products that were available in the time were manufactured in small quantities at people’s home with basic tools that used the manufactured by the craftsmen themselves. The basic manufacturing of products inside population homes shifted to a mass production of product in large factory inside developing cities in late 18^th century.

Some of the major changes that the industrial revolution changes in the world that still effects the world today are the mass production of products, larger machinery, wide range of products, specially built machinery , drastic changes in fuel that still effect use today in everyday life. Some other areas which are still improving today because of the industrial revolution are systems of communication and banking.

The industrial revolution had its downside as well as with the increase of production and rise in wealth in the middle class, the working class were suffering from difficult working conditions and hard labor and they were suffering from poor living which also let to overpopulation in some areas which led to even different diseases.

Poor working and living conditions and child labor were part of the downside of the industrial revolution.

Industrial revolution in Britain.

Britain is the birthplace of the industrial revolution alters followed by America. One of the main reasons that the industrial revolution materialized in Britain is the rich deposit of coal and iron core which was essential for the industrialization.

Coal in Britain was very easy to find as it was settled in the surface of Britain coast so it was not a problem to mine for this material. Coal mining was the first mining for the earth’s raw mineral material which later was developed for other materials such the drilling for crude oil and gas that we still use today for fuel and other products.

First coal miners

Before the introduction of coal, timber was the main fuel resource used in Britain. As the population in Britain grew, the demand for timber increased and as it had to be transported further the price of timber was becoming too expensive.

From 1700, Birmingham went from small metal working towns of 700 people to a 9 times larger city that made it the 3^rd largest city in Britain during the time. This is one clear example of what how the industrial revolution was changing to small rural areas.

Early Birmingham before the Industrial revolution

By this progress, the population started to realize that by manufacturing products created more wealth which raised the standard of living for some and the raise in middle class. By the end of the 18^th century, Britain was exporting manufactured goods worth around 2.5 billion pounds across the wold.

For the first time, with more money in people’s pockets, there were more people that were willing to spend money on other products which can make their life more luxurious. This provided entrepreneurs from all over the country to make more money by selling them different goods. By trading with other countries that was possible by the British Empire, new products were emerging on the market.

One example which is still very popular and is a part of our lifestyle today is tea. By trading, Tea came from china with sugar coming from West Indies.

As more products were emerging in the market, shops were opening especial in central London. These companies needed to market their product to increase sales by advertising which started by the help of Thomas Bentley. This was the start of the modern marketing and advertising campaigns which invade our life nowadays.

With the increase of wealth, banks started to operate like we know them today with the introduction of stocks and investments in newly founded companies.

Transport was also making a step ahead as goods had to be transported from a place to another, roads were built by private investors and a charge fee was introduced for the user. This is a practice that is still being used today especially in highways were private investors invest by building the road and then charge a fee that adds up to a considerable amount of profit over the time.

Transportation systems being set up during the industrial revolution for better transportation of goods.

Reference

BBC. (2013). Industrial Revolution. [Online Video]. 24 January. Available from:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhF_zVrZ3RQ. [Accessed: 15 October 2013].

History. 2013. History. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.history.com/topics/industrial-revolution. [Accessed 25 November 13].