well - this makes me that much happier about the 2 i got last year for $70 each
of course mine remain un-refinished with history class notes and "pablo picasso was never called an asshole" still visible scratched in the seats.
they will be refinished one day
I'll be one of the few dissenters. The look and lines are ubiquitous to the point of oversaturation, verging on cliche even. Nicely-designed and pleasant-looking enough, yes. But also a bit boring! The bent-ply and black vinyl combo is just not doing it for me--a little too pedestrian and lacking sizzle. If there was some sort of variation (i.e. chrome legs and spine or use of an exotic wood), then I'd definitely give it a thumbs up.
...and especially not for $150 per chair.
Pixie -- your observation is right on -- I love it!
I'm with Enrique. Nothing new, fresh or exciting about this chair. Painfully tasteful. Upscale hotel furniture.
YCH: Yes. Introduce a twist or an element of the unexpected to this iconic shape!
Sorry but I strongly dislike nearly all Eames furniture especially this ply loung chair, the lounge chair and ottoman, and the horrible fiberglass chaise and rocking chair.
Give me the Arne Jacobson Ant or Series 7 over the Eames loung chair any day.
Just had to get that off my chest.
have you sat in an eames lounge chair for any length of time? they are amazingly comfortable. I sit in a series 7 at work during seminars and while they're comfortable enough, they don't hold a candle to the plywood lounger. I'll agree with you about the leather lounge and ottoman, I don't like the way they look, too 50's masculine cigar and "the little woman" (but they are comfy) and that fiberglass thing is pretty awful. I do tend to favor function over form, which makes me a little different then the diehards on this site so I love my two red eames loungers with a passion. I've never sat in a more comfortable chair.
regards, trillium
thanks for your comments trillium. I know I sounded off but I don't get the look at all. Thank you for being gracious in your reply and I am glad to see that you agree with me on the leather lounge and ottoman (I really don't understand the near universal worship of this duo) and fiberglass stuff.
You know I am afraid to say that, as much as I enjoy building functional stuff, when it comes to furniture I lean more towards form over function - if I had to choose. I mentioned the need for pillows for a lot of the Italian sectionals and this comes from my experience where I so desperately wanted a B&B Charles but could not get my wife to agree because it was so uncomfortable. Turns out that we had only tried it without the pillows on the back but I was going to try any way possible to get it. It looked so beautiful. In the end I preferred the look of the Dadone when it came out much more recently and it is as comfortable as anything else - with the pillows - but I still think I would have bought it anyway. Silly I know.
A bed and office chair would be the only things where function would trump form for me, at least with furniture.
I'm with Enrique -- I don't understand why the reaction to these is so overwhelmingly positive (126 "hots" vs. 13 "nots"). Apart from being WAY overpriced -- you can find these EVERYWHERE for much less -- they are, and I don't mean to offend, banal & kitchy rip-offs of genuinely well designed chairs from the 40s & 50s. God, as they say, is in the details: Look at the way these are constructed, especially from the bottom, and then compare them w/anything by Eames, Jacobsen, etc -- clumsily done and cheaply put together.
It's bad institutional furniture, designed to have the right "look", but without any depth or understanding of the "whys". I don't know anything about dresses, but surely not every little black dress is equally good?
Matt quoth: "of course mine remain un-refinished with history class notes and 'pablo picasso was never called an asshole' still visible scratched in the seats."
I'd argue that "pablo picasso was never called an asshole" makes the piece and should not be refinished out of existence. It's a chair with a little art-related surprise!
that's the appeal of these chairs they are so simple that they are great because the design isn't trying so hard. also these chairs will look great with the right table in the right room. also i hope the price relects the condition of the chairs and that they are a matching set of four. new issue bentwood chairs from thonet are about $1000.
I have two Eames plywood lounge chairs and a fiberglass shell armchair. Not only do they look as if they could have been designed today but they are very comfortable. I think the Eamses were so ahead of their time its unbelievable.
I'm soundly in the not camp. What is "Eames era?" Either a piece was designed by Charles Eames or it is not. I am sorry that the whole world has discovered Charles and his wife Ray because I have loved not only there work but their ethos for many years. For me they represent an almost paradisal time in California when the public schools and universities were unsurpassed and ordinary people could live in well-made interesting houses and sit on useful clean furniture. Those days have passed and now you can buy an Eames-like object on ebay or from DWR or Modernica. In fact, I was in modernica this morning. I really like the Eames designed fiberglass arm chair rocker. It's both industrial and whimsical, technological and humanistic. I wish it weren't in every design magazine. I wish it were my discovery alone and my personal secret communion with the Eames's. I hope it doesn't decline into cliche (if it hasn't already). But it beats IKEA.
I'm soundly in the not camp. What is "Eames era?" Either a piece was designed by Charles Eames or it was not. I am sorry that the whole world has discovered Charles and his wife Ray because I fear that the ready availability of most of their furniture will cause them to lose their freshness and surprise. Popular objects like the fiberglass arm chair will become purchasable emblems of status, commodities, rather than expressions of a sort of human kindness and curiosity and love of living. I have loved not only the Eames's work but their ethos for many years. For me their work represents an almost paradisal time in California when the public schools and universities were unsurpassed, the sun always shone brightly through the bouganvilia, and ordinary people could live in well-made interesting houses and sit on useful clean-lined human loving furniture. Those days have passed and now you can buy an Eames-like object on ebay or from DWR or Modernica. I really like the Eames designed fiberglass arm chair rocker. It's both industrial and whimsical, technological and humanistic. I wish it weren't in every design magazine. I wish it were my discovery alone and my personal secret communion with the Eames's. I hope it doesn't decline into cliche (if it hasn't already).
Veronica & Keith's Handmade Chic 
Before & After: A Bathroom Goes From Pinky Peach to Sleek and Chic
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Hunslet Dinner Plate
A Beginner's Guide to Superb Stir-Fry: Quick, Healthy Meals from a Wok
Easy Pitcher Cocktail Recipe: Strawberry Basil Margaritas
Comments (20)
These are like a little black dress.
Pixie's right.
do we need to vote? this is a no brainer.
well - this makes me that much happier about the 2 i got last year for $70 each
of course mine remain un-refinished with history class notes and "pablo picasso was never called an asshole" still visible scratched in the seats.
they will be refinished one day
I'll be one of the few dissenters. The look and lines are ubiquitous to the point of oversaturation, verging on cliche even. Nicely-designed and pleasant-looking enough, yes. But also a bit boring! The bent-ply and black vinyl combo is just not doing it for me--a little too pedestrian and lacking sizzle. If there was some sort of variation (i.e. chrome legs and spine or use of an exotic wood), then I'd definitely give it a thumbs up.
...and especially not for $150 per chair.
Pixie -- your observation is right on -- I love it!
I'm with Enrique. Nothing new, fresh or exciting about this chair. Painfully tasteful. Upscale hotel furniture.
Like this one?
http://www.aaronrthomas.com/images/random_hompage_images/2_r3_c2.jpg
I meant this one
http://www.aaronrthomas.com/images/gallery_images/lounge_chair_dinette_red.jpg
YCH: Yes. Introduce a twist or an element of the unexpected to this iconic shape!
Sorry but I strongly dislike nearly all Eames furniture especially this ply loung chair, the lounge chair and ottoman, and the horrible fiberglass chaise and rocking chair.
Give me the Arne Jacobson Ant or Series 7 over the Eames loung chair any day.
Just had to get that off my chest.
have you sat in an eames lounge chair for any length of time? they are amazingly comfortable. I sit in a series 7 at work during seminars and while they're comfortable enough, they don't hold a candle to the plywood lounger. I'll agree with you about the leather lounge and ottoman, I don't like the way they look, too 50's masculine cigar and "the little woman" (but they are comfy) and that fiberglass thing is pretty awful. I do tend to favor function over form, which makes me a little different then the diehards on this site so I love my two red eames loungers with a passion. I've never sat in a more comfortable chair.
regards,
trillium
thanks for your comments trillium. I know I sounded off but I don't get the look at all. Thank you for being gracious in your reply and I am glad to see that you agree with me on the leather lounge and ottoman (I really don't understand the near universal worship of this duo) and fiberglass stuff.
You know I am afraid to say that, as much as I enjoy building functional stuff, when it comes to furniture I lean more towards form over function - if I had to choose. I mentioned the need for pillows for a lot of the Italian sectionals and this comes from my experience where I so desperately wanted a B&B Charles but could not get my wife to agree because it was so uncomfortable. Turns out that we had only tried it without the pillows on the back but I was going to try any way possible to get it. It looked so beautiful. In the end I preferred the look of the Dadone when it came out much more recently and it is as comfortable as anything else - with the pillows - but I still think I would have bought it anyway. Silly I know.
A bed and office chair would be the only things where function would trump form for me, at least with furniture.
I'm with Enrique -- I don't understand why the reaction to these is so overwhelmingly positive (126 "hots" vs. 13 "nots"). Apart from being WAY overpriced -- you can find these EVERYWHERE for much less -- they are, and I don't mean to offend, banal & kitchy rip-offs of genuinely well designed chairs from the 40s & 50s. God, as they say, is in the details: Look at the way these are constructed, especially from the bottom, and then compare them w/anything by Eames, Jacobsen, etc -- clumsily done and cheaply put together.
It's bad institutional furniture, designed to have the right "look", but without any depth or understanding of the "whys". I don't know anything about dresses, but surely not every little black dress is equally good?
Matt quoth: "of course mine remain un-refinished with history class notes and 'pablo picasso was never called an asshole' still visible scratched in the seats."
I'd argue that "pablo picasso was never called an asshole" makes the piece and should not be refinished out of existence. It's a chair with a little art-related surprise!
that's the appeal of these chairs they are so simple that they are great because the design isn't trying so hard. also these chairs will look great with the right table in the right room. also i hope the price relects the condition of the chairs and that they are a matching set of four. new issue bentwood chairs from thonet are about $1000.
I have two Eames plywood lounge chairs and a fiberglass shell armchair. Not only do they look as if they could have been designed today but they are very comfortable. I think the Eamses were so ahead of their time its unbelievable.
I'm soundly in the not camp. What is "Eames era?" Either a piece was designed by Charles Eames or it is not. I am sorry that the whole world has discovered Charles and his wife Ray because I have loved not only there work but their ethos for many years. For me they represent an almost paradisal time in California when the public schools and universities were unsurpassed and ordinary people could live in well-made interesting houses and sit on useful clean furniture. Those days have passed and now you can buy an Eames-like object on ebay or from DWR or Modernica. In fact, I was in modernica this morning.
I really like the Eames designed fiberglass arm chair rocker. It's both industrial and whimsical, technological and humanistic. I wish it weren't in every design magazine. I wish it were my discovery alone and my personal secret communion with the Eames's. I hope it doesn't decline into cliche (if it hasn't already). But it beats IKEA.
I'm soundly in the not camp. What is "Eames era?" Either a piece was designed by Charles Eames or it was not. I am sorry that the whole world has discovered Charles and his wife Ray because I fear that the ready availability of most of their furniture will cause them to lose their freshness and surprise. Popular objects like the fiberglass arm chair will become purchasable emblems of status, commodities, rather than expressions of a sort of human kindness and curiosity and love of living. I have loved not only the Eames's work but their ethos for many years. For me their work represents an almost paradisal time in California when the public schools and universities were unsurpassed, the sun always shone brightly through the bouganvilia, and ordinary people could live in well-made interesting houses and sit on useful clean-lined human loving furniture. Those days have passed and now you can buy an Eames-like object on ebay or from DWR or Modernica.
I really like the Eames designed fiberglass arm chair rocker. It's both industrial and whimsical, technological and humanistic. I wish it weren't in every design magazine. I wish it were my discovery alone and my personal secret communion with the Eames's. I hope it doesn't decline into cliche (if it hasn't already).