The Lasting Legacy of Charles and Ray Eames

Currently the subject of a major retrospective at London’s Barbican Center, the husband-and-wife team helped democratize design, which they saw as an avenue to solve problems rather than a luxury. The exhibition includes numerous versions of the classic leather lounge chair (which Herman Miller now sells for $5,000, countering the Eames model of producing low-cost furniture for the masses) for which they are best known. The influence of that chair can still be seen today in offices and airports around the world, as well as the furniture sold at Target or Ikea. Even Apple’s chief designer Jonathan Ive has named the Eames as an influence for their blend of form and function.