Sort by --Price: Lowest firstPrice: Highest firstProduct Name: A to ZProduct Name: Z to AIn stockReference: Lowest firstReference: Highest first Charles & Ray Eames Plastic ChairsThe range of fiberglass reinforced plastic chairs is a wonderful example for the ability of Charles and Ray Eames to adapt their ideas to the latest available technology and absorb industrial innovations into the furniture world. With this material they could finally unfold the versatile collection of chairs they had imagined.The beginning – from metal sheet to plasticThe task was once again to create a seat out of a single shell for a chair that was to be lightweight, versatile and inexpensive to produce.With plywood the journey began at the same point but experiments and expertise not only with furniture led them to give up the idea of a single shell and rather employ innovative ways to connect seat and back to combine maximum comfort and freedom of form with feasible production methods.The development of the plastic chairs started – who would have guessed – with a design that was to be stamped out of sheet metal.
The industrial technique was successfully applied in the automobile industry and adapted for the production of seat shells. Similar to the plywood chairs in 1940 once again a competition by the Museum of Modern Art explicitly scouting designs suitable for mass production should become a launch pad. For the plastic chair series that would be successfully in production for decades even though the initial designs for the competition turned out to be too expensive in mass production. The same fate had met the winning plywood chair by Charles Eames and Eero Saarinen for the Organic Design competition in 1940.The initial designs for the International Competition for Low-Cost Furniture Design in 1948 were intended to be made of varnished or coated metal sheets but by the time realistic prototypes for mass production were to be presented Eames realized that fiberglass reinforced plastics were better suited for mass production and decided to abandon the idea to work with metal sheets for the shell.
He should be right in the long run but placed second in the competition. The jury believed in the use of sheet metal for mass production and accordingly a metal sheet chair placed first.One shell for all - the versatility of a designer chairWhile metal stamping proved to be too expensive for low cost production fiberglass caught the attention of the Eames office and with Zenith Plastics a competent partner was found to develop the prototype and commence production. The Plastic Chairs were born. Fiberglass had been used extensively during the war, was moldable and made it possible for Charles Eames and Hermann Miller to launch a chair based on a shell that allowed a variety of bases and functions and made the design extremely versatile in practice.As if to point out that everything is possible the modern shell was even coupled with a rocking chair base. The Eames Plastic Armchair RAR or Rocking Armchair with Rod base as it is known, is unusually light and simple for a rocking chair and a charming piece of furniture.
For some time after its addition to the fiberglass series Hermann Miller gave the padded RAR to employees who had just become parents.The more common versions of the Eames plastic chair can be adapted for any kind of usage by choosing between different base options:DAX or DSX (Dining Armchair or Side Chair with X-base)DAW or DSW (Dining Armchair or Side Chair with Wood base)DAR or DSR (Dining Armchair or Side Chair with Rod base)Add to this a selection of colors and optional upholstery and the possible configurations are unlimited.Back to the roots – from fiberglass to polypropylene back to fiberglass and wooden veneerSince 2004 Hermann Miller offers the shell in an updated polypropylene version that replaced the fiberglass due to environmental and health risks related to fiberglass. Fiberglass itself replaced asbestos in the 1950’s but the chemical similarities gave reason to assume the same health issues might occur and the use of fiberglass was discontinued. Recently the company launched a retro edition in fiberglass applying a monomer free binding process, thus eliminating the health concerns related to the material.
The models available at steelform apply the same technique so you can enjoy your palstic chairs today with the same feel and look as in the 50s. And the evolutionary process is not over. The latest addition pays homage to Eames early trials with three-dimensional shapes in plywood. With the latest 3-D veneer technology the leap from plastic to wood, from the once low cost chair back to a high design icon, is made. In 2013 the elite wood model arrived.Contemporary chair / wooden / polypropylene / fiberglass by Charles & Ray Eames Eames Molded Plastic Chairs Charles and Ray Eames realized their first successful, single-shell form in 1950 with the Molded Fiberglass Chairs. However, when the environmental risks associated with fiberglass production became more widely understood, the decision was made to discontinue fiberglass shell production until a more suitable material could be found. In 2001, Herman Miller reintroduced the Molded Plastic Chair in polypropylene. In addition to being 100 percent recyclable, the polypropylene shell chair's subtle matte texture offers a soft tactility as well as notable durability.
The chairs are available in both the arm and side chair formats in five archival colors, nine new colors, and with upholstery. They can be configured with a choice of wire, dowel leg, stacking, rocker, and 4-leg bases. An array of trim, finely tailored Hopsak fabrics designed by Alexander Girard, Herman Miller’s Textile Director from 1952 to 1973, round out the collection of shell customization options, fully restoring the integrity of the original 1953 shell chair offerings.Last month, I got a great deal on bright blue Eames shell chair, but the swivel base was just too office-y for my taste. Over the weekend, I switched out the old base for a black wire rocker base with walnut runners. By the way, I personally find the vintage fiberglass Eames shells to be FAR more attractive than the newer polypropylene reproductions made by Vitra. Yes, they’re licensed by Herman Miller, but they just aren’t the same thing. If you live in the U.S., it’s very easy to get vintage Eames shell chairs for less than $50 apiece.