Aluminium Group EA 119

Production

Since aluminium has a high load carrying capacity, but also lightness, good formability and corrosion resistance, it became the material of choice for the Eames Aluminium Chair collection. Only through this material was the accentuated curves and stable, ergonomic design and outdoor use of EA 119 and the other chairs in the Aluminium Group possible. The original weather-resistant, heat-sealed synthetic leather fabric "Koroseal" or "Naugahide" has now been replaced by the fabric "Hopsak" and genuine leather - thus meaning the EA 119 and its relatives are no longer suitable for use outdoors. However in terms of the design nothing has changed and the aluminium Chair collection has now been manufactured for over 50 years in the same way and the same consistently high quality. In Europe this is done, as with all Eames designs, by Vitra, a contemporary furniture manufacturer with headquarters and production facilities in Biersfelden, Switzerland and Weil am Rhein, Germany. as a manufacturer Vitra doesn't just guarantee the quality of the Aluminium Chiars with its name and long tradition, but also with a 30-year warranty.

Charles and Ray Eames count amongst the most important designers of modernity. Charles Eames, born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1907 and Ray Kaiser, Sacramento, California in 1912, met in 1940 at the Cranbrook Academy of Arts where Charles Eames and Eero Saarinnen were preparing their entry for the "Organic Design in Home Furnishings" competition, endeavours in which Ray assisted them. Some eighteen years later this same constellation led, more or less, to the development of Vitra EA Chairs: it was Eero Saarinen who sought a chair for an architectural project, and asked his friend Charles Eames if he had any ideas. The result was the Aluminium Chair. Although Charles Eames was responsible for the construction of the furniture designs, all designs come officially from Charles & Ray Eames. In their studio in Los Angeles the pair realised a vast portfolio of projects that ranges from the famous Eames Chairs over films, photographs, textiles and toys to architectural works and exhibition design. A portfolio that has rightly seen them as two of the most important protagonists in in design history. Charles Eames died on August 21, 1978, whereupon Ray Eames closed the Eames Studio. 10 years to the day later, on August 21 1988, Ray Eames died in California.

Historical Context

The emergence of the Eames Aluminium Chairs came at a time of extreme change. Following World War II American society experienced years of prosperity, technological revolutions and innovations in popular culture. In connection with new production techniques much was suddenly affordable for broad strata of the population and consumption quickly established itself as a central element of post-war American society. The designers Charles and Ray Eames responded to these developments by exploring new methods and processes in furniture production furniture design and so offering consumers products that reflected the flexibility of modern living. Formally, the so-called second modernity is based on style from the beginning of the century and so comes as no surprise that the cool aluminium frame and balanced, minimal form of EA 119 and the other aluminium chairs reflects the classic steel tube furniture of the Bauhaus.