Image source: Herman Miller — Eames Molded Plastic Chair
© Herman Miller and the respective rights holders. Quoted to accompany INTEBEE's independent design commentary and research.
Eames Molded Plastic Chair
Eames shell-chair family from 1950, now in recycled plastic; the wire-base side chair is measured.
457 × 800 × 546 mm
1950
Official product information
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Description
Overview
The Eames Molded Plastic Chairs are the plastic-shell members of the Eames shell chair family, credited to Charles and Ray Eames. Herman Miller's product sheet dates the design to 1950 and says its most recent step is a molded plastic shell made with 100 percent post-industrial recycled plastic with a subtle matte texture. The range includes side chairs, armchairs, rocking chairs and stools.
Image source: Herman Miller — Eames Molded Plastic Chair · © Herman Miller and the respective rights holders. Quoted to accompany INTEBEE's independent design commentary and research. · View official product page ↗ · Image use & copyright policy
Construction
Two shell shapes, a side chair and an armchair, can be combined with a choice of bases: wire, low wire, dowel, 4-leg, stacking, rocking, and counter- or bar-height stool bases. Shells can be left plain or upholstered on the seat and back, and the side chair also takes a seat pad.
Specifications
- Side chair, wire base: W 18 in (457 mm), D 21.5 in (546 mm), H 31.5 in (800 mm), seat height 17.5 in
- Armchair shell: 25 in wide on the 4-leg, dowel and wire bases; 31 to 31.75 in high
- Shell colours: 12 in the Herman Miller collection
- Base finishes: white, trivalent chrome, black; dowels: white ash, natural maple, natural white oak, walnut, ebony
Story
One shell, many chairs
Herman Miller says Charles and Ray Eames spent their careers exploring the chair as a single-shell form, beginning in 1950 with the Molded Fiberglass Chair. The page traces the molded chair to Charles Eames and Eero Saarinen's early investigations of molding plywood at Cranbrook Academy in 1939, continued by the Eames studio in Venice, California.
Image source: Herman Miller — Eames Molded Plastic Chair · © Herman Miller and the respective rights holders. Quoted to accompany INTEBEE's independent design commentary and research. · View official product page ↗ · Image use & copyright policy
From fiberglass to recycled plastic
The page explains that after plywood and stamped metal the Eameses turned to fiberglass and experimented with bent wire, and that when fiberglass production proved unhealthy for the environment the decision was made to switch production to a safer plastic. Herman Miller's timeline lists the Molded Plastic Chair made with 100 percent recycled plastic under 2022, and the Herman Miller x HAY Collection, which updates colours and materials of eight Eames designs, under the same year.
More by Charles and Ray Eames
Occasional Table LTR
Eames low occasional table of 1950 with a steel-wire rod base and wood, HPL, linoleum or marble top.
Soft Pad Chair EA 223
Eames stool for the EA 222 lounge chair, with a sewn-on cushion and an aluminium base, 1969.
Plywood Group DCW
Eames' Dining Chair Wood: made entirely of moulded plywood, 1945/1946.
Eames Chaise
The 1968 Eames Chaise, an 18-inch-wide leather chaise on a die-cast aluminum frame.
Collection
Eames Collection
The Eames Collection at Herman Miller: molded plywood chairs (1946), molded plastic chairs, Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman, storage units and Hang-It-All.
