Introduced in 1955, the Coconut lounge chair is one artifact of the burst of creativity issuing from George Nelson's design studio and changing the look and feel of American furniture. Once our founder, D.J. De Pree, convinced Nelson to become his director of design, a warm personal and professional relationship between the two led to a stunning range of products—including the Marshmallow sofa and the first L-shaped desk, a precursor to today's workstation. And this chair.
Simply Better.
"Everything is sculpture," said Japanese-American sculptor Isamu Noguchi. And he created sculptures out of anything he could get his hands on—stone, metal, wood, clay, bone, paper. Unwilling and unable to be pigeonholed, he created sculptures that could be as abstract as Henri Moore's and as realistic as Leonardo's. "To limit yourself to a particular style may make you an expert of that particular viewpoint or school, but I do not wish to belong to any school," he said. "I am always learning, always discovering."
Simply Better.
Simply Better.
The story behind the Eames molded plywood chairs makes clear just how big a role imagination and serendipity play in design. In the early 1940s, when Charles Eames was working on MGM set designs, he and his wife, Ray, were experimenting with woodmolding techniques that would have profound effects on the design world. Their discoveries led to a commission from the US Navy to develop plywood splints, stretchers, and glider shells, molded under heat and pressure, that were used successfully in World War II
Simply Better.
Simply Better.
Charles and Ray Eames made the lounge chair and ottoman as a gift for their friend Billy Wilder, the director of "Some Like It Hot" and "Sunset Blvd." When we began manufacturing the set in 1956, we maintained as much of the handcraftsmanship as was possible with mass production. Throughout the Eames/Nelson era, we came closer than anyone else to incorporating craft ideals into the mass production of furniture
Simply Better.