CASE & POINT
CASE & POINT
- RAY & CHARLES EAMES -
CASE STUDY HOUSE 8
(But more commonly known as The Eames House)
The home of Architectural duo, Ray and Charles Eames was the eighth of roughly a dozen homes built as part of The Case Study House programme. My husband Doug and I were able to check visiting this architectural icon off our Architectural Bucket List during a trip to Los Angeles, before Covid-19 made travel impossible …And of course I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to capture it for myself!
Back to the
drawing board
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“We want to make the best for the most for the least.”
The house as we know it was actually the Eameses’ second design.
Known as The Bridge House (designed by Charles Eames and Eero Saarinen) the first design was situated to best enjoy sea views and used pre-fabricated materials ordered from industrial and commercial catalogues. In 1945 it was even published in Arts & Architecture’s December issue and materials ordered for the build. How ever WII created a shortage of steel, leaving the couple to wait 3 years for its arrival.
In the meantime, the meadow on the section impressed on the Eameses’ who felt like a different solution was needed to retain, rather than build over the top of it. A new two storied house/ studio design was moved back, nestled into the hillside and the meadow remained in front. The challenge was using their pre-ordered materials and to “maximize volume from minimal materials.” Incredibly, just one extra steel beam was needed for the design.
Remarkably, the home’s interior has been kept almost exactly as it looked the day that Ray passed away, with the Eames Foundation (started by Charles’ daughter, Lucia Eames) as the guardians. They carefully restore and maintain the house as a now architectural historic landmark.
Visiting the Eameses’ home was inspirational for us as designers, and couldn’t have come at a better time with our own house plans underway but stalling. On returning home, elements we had been fiercely holding onto (but limiting us) were put aside and allowed for fresh ideas that were quietly percolating to take root.
Project details
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DESIGN: Charles and Ray Eames
LOCATION: Pacific Palisades, California, US
Designed: 1945
BUILT: 1949
STYLE: MODERN ARCHITECTURE
This moment
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Taken from the elevated garden it focuses on volume, along with the relationship between the courtyard and house; the interior vs exterior.
I also love that you get a greater sense of the materiality used, with the stacked exterior pavers, repeating the rectangular window motif.
“The most important thing is that you love what you are doing, and the second that you are not afraid of where your next idea will lead.”
