Eames Tandem Seating ETS

Overview

Tandem Seating, ETS in the product name, is the modular waiting-room seating of the Eameses. Vitra describes a robust system that has been tested over decades in airports, railway stations and similar public places, and that lets any number of seats be joined in a row.

Construction

Seat and back panels are covered in vinyl or leather over padded sections with welded seams. The frame and the armrest supports are chrome-plated die-cast aluminium, the armrest pads are integral polyurethane foam, and the base is a T-beam in basic dark carrying chrome-plated die-cast aluminium T-legs. Glides are plastic for carpet or non-slip felt for hard floors, and each panel of seat or back can be swapped on site.

Specifications

Three-seat unit: 1770 mm wide, 720 mm deep, 860 mm high (depth and height are not labelled on the factsheet drawing). Two seats are 1180 mm wide and four seats 2360 mm. Upholstery: vinyl 76 antra II or leather in sixteen colours; base 01 chrome.

A commission from Saarinen

According to Vitra, Eero Saarinen asked his friends Charles and Ray Eames for seating to put in the waiting halls of his new Dulles Airport terminal in Washington, D.C. The result was Tandem Seating.

Heavy public use

Chicago's O'Hare Airport had a similar need: C.F. Murphy Associates, architects of two new terminals there, were looking for sturdy public seating that is simple to look after and repair. Vitra says the system was built for very heavy wear, and the factsheet carries the year 1962.