You mention the LCW as having Skunk for the upholstery but the material used was actually 'Slunk hide', which is the tanned hide of a stillborn or aborted calf fetus. It's still an "exotic" option used for drum heads, cobblery and upholstery.
THANK YOU for clearing that up! We spent an entire discussion meeting in class talking about ad investigating the slunk trade (and Persian lamb, and other pretty gross ways we have used animals as products). I misread the original Herman Miller catalog (reproduced in a book at 3 inches tall, making skunk and slunk indistinguishable), and am really grateful to have this detail correct now!
Matthew, you may have felt desperate as you converted your classes to online (we all did), but the result is excellent. I teach History of ID at ArtCenter, lived next-door to Eames Demetrios for years and the work of the Eames Office is a favorite part of my term. Enjoyed this video very much.
Wow. I am working on a presentation over Charles and Ray Eames for my carpentry class and I got so invested in the topic that I had to watch this video. (it's 2.30 am now) I am just really amazed of how thoughtful their designs were and I feel like I've never seen the phrase "form follows function" fitting as well as here. I am really intrigued to explore some more industrial design. Thanks a lot for the effort you put in this video. Greetings from Germany!
Thank you for the interesting lectures. It's almost 2023 and Covd is still isolating us, but it also has resulted in this opportunity to learn and broaden our view of the world. Thank you A less isolated engineer
Back forty years ago when I was sitting in my history of ID classes they were taught by an older gentleman who was the dean of the school. He was a wealth of information, particularly because many of those designers we discussed were his contemporaries. But interesting as his lectures were they were nothing compared to what you present here. Thank you.
Bless you for the kind comments about Levittown housing, that it combines something of the shared experience of an apartment building, with some feeling of independent living. I'm so tired of posh planners dumping on suburbia. I have to think that small houses, combined with lots that are thickly planted with fruit, flowers and veg and herbs, is one of the most efficient, and most humane landscapes we've managed yet. I speak from experience. Here I am, in the ruins of just such a 1950s 'tract', now being 'redeveloped' to monster-houses with three or four times the footprint, and none of the fruitful, beautiful, intelligent and supremely local, use of fertile land. One could substitute, in these days, grouped family 'compounds' of e.g. an even smaller Mainhouse, minimal Granny-Flat, tiny Lodger/Guest accommodation? To take care of the Oldies, raise our 1.6 Child, and get a small revenue from B&B, or Student, or if absolutely necessary, AirBnB. Oh, I have a whole dissertation. Where can I put it? Who will listen? k
As a note: In 1945 Vannevar Bush described what he-called the “Memex”, a single device that would store all books, records and communications, and mechanically link them together by association. This concept was then used to formulate the idea of “hypertext” (a term coined two decades later), which in turn guided the development of the World Wide Web (developed another two decades later). I wonder if Charles wouldn't have been aware of this information.
I’m recently reading the book of Eames by Gloria Koenig and I’m so thankful that you sharing more personal experiences and historical background than the book. It really helped me to understand how and why are their design so powerful. I also love your humor! Hahahah😂 Thank you for spending time to make and upload such a inspiriting video.
You might enjoy An Eames Primer by Eames Demitrios, Charles's grandson. It focuses more on how and why they worked and is more complete in its message than other books.
Hello Matthew. Just discovered your youtube videos and i'm currently watching your Eames series. I'm very much enjoying your videos and I plan on watching the others you've made. I'm at the part of this video regarding the "skunk" skin that you were referring to. You were wondering why they would use skunk fur back in the 40's. It's actually not skunk but it was called "slunk". Here's a definition of slunk skin... (Slunk skin, a product used in furniture making, is the skin of an animal born prematurely or abortively.) Or an unborn calf as most people call it. It was commonly used due to the softness of this skin/ hide as oppose to using the adult cow skin/hide. Nowadays this would be considered un-PC but it was very popular back then. I love to connect with you so send me a message or DM me if that's possible. I know we'll have a lot to talk about regarding the Eameses....... PS. it's (mine bicycle). Inside joke, for those who watched til the end of this video will understand. ;-)
Oh! the blissful grammar lesson. And you, blissful Man, never ever using the word 'like' unless it was 'like' the mot juste, and not just 'like' a spacer. Clear language. So restful not having to parse out the meaning from all the noise. So sorry for the little children who are being taught by 'like' teachers?.... and all that that implies. (Pace, the excellent teachers we all know.) k
Nothing cringe worthy here. Their relationship worked just fine. Women can choose to work behind or with a man if they would prefer and vice versa. Right Bill Clinton? Now back to Design!😊
