EamesHouseCharles and Ray Eames

Maria Leon

TABLE OF CONTENTS

About Case Study House Program The Eames

Case Study House no. 8

Site Plan Axonometric Exterior Elevations Floor Plans

Program Functional Aspects Circulation

Formal Appereance Parti Description

Spatial Qualities

Design and Construction Materials

Design Analysis

Conclusion

Sources

PROGRAM

The house was design as a home/studio environment for the Eames. The house re-flected their work and their constantl look for improvement. The structure is fully revealed keeping “the honest use of materials” as they believed.The house truly shows their design beliefs

The Case Study Houses were experiments in American residential architecture spon-sored by Arts & Architecture magazine. Well-known architects designed and built inex-pensive and efficient model homes due to the residential housing boom and soldiers returning from the war.The program started in 1945 and ended in 1966. The Eames house construction took place in 1949, not too long after the program started.The house was inspired by WWII materials and techniques and it was designed to be the home of an artistic couple whose children had moved out.

They married in 1941 and moved to California where they kept working together.

THE EAMESThey are great contributors to the arts. Their designs have an adventurous ap-proach and their work resonates their “learn-by-doing process.” They had sep-arate educations and each started their carrier differently but then joined paths when Ray assisted Charles on a project for the Museum of Modern Art.

CASE STUDY HOUSE NO. 8Ray and Charles changed their original bridge house design so the house would merge with the landscape rather than destroy it. The design is meant to show the appreciation of nature . The Eames made everything within the hosue to represent their work like and design beliefs, like the honest use of materials (exposed materi-als).The landscape provides privacy for the house, however there isn’t privacy within the spaces in the house itself as it is made of glass and steel to blend witht he land-scape.it.

PROGRAMThe house is dived into the living space and the work space. These are completely separated by a small garden. Within this living area, the private space is on the sec-ond floor, so the guests would not be able to see it from below (living room).The studio is the working area and it is one separate building within the property.

The property is 1,500 feet2

The house is built for a couple whose children are grown and have already moved out.The idea is that the house would not be imposed on the site but rather sit on it . Saving the mead-ow and trees was very important to the Eames. The house is made out of materials inspired by WWII, they are easy to transport and are already cut to perfect fit once it arrived on site. The use of these materials is wha helped maximize the spaces.

FORMAL APPEARANCEThe facade is 17 feet high and broken down into two volumes (the living and work-ing places) separated by an exterior volume (courtyard) allowing a rythmical break of the spaces. The pattern is rigidly geometric (grid-like) with bright primary colors on the panels and different opacacy on the windows installed between steel columns and braces that were painted black.The site sits flat on a steep slope with the help of a concrete retaining wall that ties together the two rectangular buildings separated by the courtyard that make up the parti of the residence.

SPATIAL QUALITIESThe materiality of the floors within the buildings changes as the environment changes, this helps provide a strong separation of space.The walls on the back of the house are solir while the ones in front remain transpar-ent which help maintain a beautiful view of the trees as well as the Pacific Ocean. This transparency,the use of wood inside the house, and the trees in the courtyard allow for the house to blend even more with the natural landscape.The double heighted ceilings allow for separate spaces to remain connected by this void.

HOW IS IT MADE?The Eames house was built with prefabricaed materials that could be ordered from catalogs (mass production). The foundation was made of concrete and the house out of steel, glass and colored panels as well as wood for the interior. The living spaces ocupies most of the property. The roof is completely flat and per-pendicular to the steel frames. The glass windows are a mix of transparent and translucent glass. Some of this glass create walls. The color schemes of hte house remains with the use of the primary colors, black, white, and wood.

STRUCTURAL SYSTEMSThere are outdoor paths around the buildings as well as in the courtyard that help you lead from one place to another. The double height ceilings as well as the spiral staircase lead you to an upstairs en-vironment. The trees provide some sense of bounadaries of the property.

MATERIALSThe eames used steel, wood, glass, colored panels,brick, ceramic, aluminium and plastic.

IS IT SUSTAINABLE?The final design blends with theite rather than create a break through it. A lot of nat-ural light comes in even though the trees block soem of that sunlight. The Eames decided to keep the landscape and make their house interact with the landscape by using steel and glass to help with the lightning and the blending with the site. The house keeps up with the vision that Ray and Charles had and keeping it up to their standards is costly.

CONCLUSION/ANALYSISThe project was successful, the Eames’ vision came to life when their simple design paralleled their life and the low maintenance of the house reflected their lifestyle. Their work environment was part of heir lives so they also included that into their design as it reflected who they were. The materials of the house create open spaces allowing a wide circulatory path. They also succeded in the true use of materials as well as nesting their home in the site rather than interrupt nature.

SOURCES

http://www.indiana.edu/~iucdp/Eames.pdf

http://constructionlitmag.com/featured-posts/the-eames-house/attachment/eames-stairs/

http://www.casestudyhousetours.com/History.html

https://www.curbed.com/2015/4/17/9969354/virtual-reality-eames-house-archilog-ic

http://veerle.us/eames-house-plan.py#

http://eamesfoundation.org