Is the Eames Lounge and Ottoman really that great

Yes, it’s unbelieveably comfortable and is simply a design icon. I really, really want one for my living room.

My professor from college had one that dated back to the 70’s. He’d had it recovered once but that things was amazing.

Like a moth to a flame, people are just attracted to this beautiful piece.

The Eames lounge looks great but it’s not really supportive. You end up with a compressed lower spine. Ever see the photo of Billy Wilder sitting in it? He looks shrunken.

I have to say, when I see one in someone’s house, I figure the person either bought a repro because some magazine or website told them to.

yea. it’s a classic iconic piece and people get it for “the look” , the look that happened to be in vogue right now. this “unbelievably comfortable design icon” and other eames or a la eames pieces could be found on the side of the road in 80s and even 90s when people were getting rid of them because they looked dated at the time and people who held onto them were either appreciating it as a piece of design history or really did care about how the piece looked.

Since we’re on the subject, do any of you know where to find quality versions that aren’t ridiculously high priced? I’ve only seen them for $3K+

For a designer to have one in their living room, I think it says “I’ve arrived.” ha ha ha That, along with an aeron chain in their office! Oh wait, and a silver Audi TT in their garage (sorry Yo!.) Oh wait, and a black turtleneck sweater. Maybe 5 of those in the closet.

Mine is matte charcoal… :wink:

I did just order 2 ebony Eames LCW chairs… deceptively comfortable, I love 'em… they are on back order for 10 weeks, so either they don’t make that many, or they are in high demand.

Another person to mention is Eero Saarinen. Yes he’s an architect, but he did furnitures as well, along side with the Eames.

There’s a Saarinen exhibition going on at the Cranbrook Art Museum. Anyone in the area shouldn’t miss it. We can meet up too!

Eero is pretty much the man.

I like this photo better:)

as soft as that photo is, he’s still the man.

Yes he is. I went to the GM tech center for a symposium on Eero Saarinen yesterday and it was phenomenon. I am really glad that GM preserved much of his original designs, including the furniture.

At Cranbrook King’s Wood(girl middle school) cafeteria, Saarinen designed the chairs. The fabric was hard to maintain so they replaced them with replicas that has plastic upholstery. Still, I heard that someone was still willing to offer a crazy amount of money for the replica.

They have the original at the museum.

Hey Yo, I heard that there’s a portfolio review at CCS this coming Tuesday. You should fly down here on company’s expense and come for the exhibition!

I would love that (as I love doing those things), but I am in Boston at the moment to make some presentations. Back to PDX on Tuesday for Thanksgiving, then back to Boston the following Monday for more meetings…

Its funny you mention the Saarinen furniture at Cranbrook, back in the fifties Southern Illinois University bought a ton of furniture by Him and the Eames’ and other design superstars of the day, over the last ten years they’ve been secretly tossing them into dumpsters. I had a Design History teachor, who was horrified, she had a picture of a pile about ten feet high of chairs including the LCW’s and tulip chairs.

DID YOU RESCUE THEM FROM THE DUMPSTERS???

You could have made a fortune.

Yo, your TT is matte finish dark grey…very cool.

i wish that they could have been resqued, but apparently even though they were trash, taking them would be stealing state property, a crime we save for only the most necessary of university equipment.

anyways, I forgot to mention, that as far as the lounge chairs, I happen to love them, while my girlfriend, a photographer who is also aware of their impact on the history of design, hates them. We almost broke up… not really.

love the eames lounge (comfort and look), but the real eames chaise is this-

another great one (new but with some retro eames look) is this-

almost bought one when i was living in denmark (the designer was a student from a local design school who had it produced through a danish furniture company)-

Sting Ray, by Thomas Pederson for Fredricia

wish i had space in my loft for any of these…

R

you have to consider the science of ergonomics was in it’s infancy when the eames lounge was produced. when it became an icon, you have to decide if it’s really worth it to update the look and proportion to accomodate.

i have the plywood lounge and the aluminum group lounge (soft pad), both eames designs. i bought them when i worked for herman miller.

i’m 6’ tall and 240# (i’m a big dumb white guy from the upper mid-west). the eames aluminum group lounge is more comfortable to me than the plywood lounge. the leather is softer, it tilts, and the headrest is higher. it was also designed 10-15 years after the plywood lounge. i keep them both in my living room, both have the ottomans. the eames lounge is cherry veneer with black leather, the aluminum group is black leather, polished aluminum frame and arms. people are drawn to the eames lounge when they walk in. it’s usually the first place a visitor sits. they walk past the tuxedo leather sofa and the aluminum group lounge and sit in that iconic chair first.

if you want the killer deal on those furniture pieces, you need to work for the company. when i was working there the rate there was 1/3 list. i ordered the eames lounge in '99 for a little over $1k. the soft pad aluminum group was $800 new for me by a circumstance of error.

to me, you order furinture like that and you keep it forever. it’s built extremely well.

ROFLMAO…man I love the internet. With the name Kung Fu Jesus I had a mental image of you being like a 5’4" asian dude with a fu man chu mustache and long hair.

Way too friggin’ funny.

i love the irony, too. got the name from a cheesy b-movie where jesus comes back and kicks satan’s ass chuck norris-style.