PRECEDENT STUDY BIANCA ABREU
TABLE OF CONTENTS THE EAMES C h a r l e s + R a y
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EAMES HOUSE
S i t e 02 P r o g r a m 04 M a t e r i a l i t y 06
INTERIOR DECOR 09 DRAWINGS
E a s t + W e s t E l e v a t i o n s N o r t h + S o u t h E l e v a t i o n s
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Charles Eames Jr. and Bernice Alexandra “Ray” were American based designers who worked in the fields of industrial and graphic design, fine arts film, and made major contributions to modern architecture and furniture. Together with the multi-talented Eames Office staff, the pair set a standard for design excellence that still inspires current generations.
In 1949, Charles and Ray designed and built their own home in Pacific Palisades, California, as part of the Case Study House Program sponsored by Arts & Architecture magazine. The house is widely known as Case Study House #8 that was and continues to be a spatially pleasant modern residence. Charles and Ray proposed that the home they designed would be for a married couple working in the design and graphic fields, whose children were no longer living at home. They wanted a home that would make demands for itself and would serve as a background for, as Charles would say, “Life in work” and as a “Shock absorber.”
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SITE When designing this house two factors were looked at. The most important factor being to not destroy the meadow but co-exist with it. As well as to, “maximize volume from minimal materials.” Using the same off-the -shelf parts, but notably ordering one extra steel beam, Charles and Ray reconfigured the house. The desgin intergrated the house into the landscape, rather than imposing the house on it. Eucalyptus trees planted along the eastern elevations of the house provide added privacy and shade. A wood plank pathway leads from the drive and runs along the full extent of the house’s eastern facade.
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The house is tucked away on a three- acre site on top of a 150 foot cliff that over looks the Pacific ocean in Pacifc Palisades, California. The site is a flat parcel on otherwise steep land that creates a retaining wall uphill side. The response to this condition was a concrete retaining wall that ties together the two boxes, studio, and residence, seperted by a courtyard becooming a beautiful continuation of space with rooms flowing into one another.
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PROGRAM The house does not use any major way to divide public and private spaces. The two boxes are seperated and serve two different functions. One is for the residence itself and the other is a studio. Both provide double heighted spaces at the corners and outer ends of both programs. This allows for a composition that breaks the space up rythmetically, and is read on the exterior of the house with the exterior courtyard serving as a the connection between the two boxes.
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The lower story contains the utilitarian spaces (kitchen and dining areas), with private spaces (bedrooms and baths) above in the upper story or loft. The loft overlooks the double-height living space in the southern portion of the residence.
To the left of the main entrance, a short single-story hallway with built-in storage cabinets, opens onto the double-heightvolumeofthelivingroom,whichoccupiestheentiresouthernportionoftheresidence. This is the most photographed and celebrated space in the Eames House. The floor is finished with white linoleumtile, and the ceiling is exposed metal roof decking. The solid rear wall is finished with vertical wood paneling. An upper and lower row of beige pleated curtains cover the expansive double-heightwindows. The general openness of the living room is countered by a more intimate seating area set into a single-height alcove located under the outer edge of the loft. The seating area features a built-inL-shaped sofa and a wood shelf and upper storage cabinets. The floor in this area is carpeted. The upper floor contains two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a dressing alcove. The two bedrooms occupy the loft overlooking the living room and can be closed off with three sliding canvas-covered wood partitions. A similar sliding partition separates the two bedrooms. Original goose-neck light fixtures are mounted on the walls in the bedroom areas, two in the larger bedroom, and one in the smaller bedroom.
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MATERIALITY The intention was for the house to be made of prefabricated materials that would not interrupt the site, be easy to build, and exhibit a modern style. The 17ft tall facade is broken down into a rigidly geometric, almost, mondrianesque composition. A simple steel frame was used for the structure of the house. The steel frame used black thin, 4 inch, H-columns for the walls and 12 inch deep web joists for the roof. The unique quality of the Eames house was given by the different arrangment of solid and transparent colored panels that filled the frame and created a shifting light in the interior throughout the day.
The entry door is marked with a gold leaf panel above. An existing row of eucalytus trees was preserved along the exposed wall of the house providing some shading and a visual contrast with the house’s bold facade. This bold design being set against the pristine nature outside, makes a truly groundbreaking composure.
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The Eames House is modular in its design, composed of 20’ x 7’ 4� bays that rise to a height of 17 feet. Each bay is defined by a steel frame consisting of two rows of 4-inch H-columns set 20 feet apart, with a 12-inch open-webjoistformingthetopmember. On the west elevation, the vertical member of each frame is partially embedded in an 8-foot high poured concrete retaining wall at the base of the slope that forms the lower part of the west elevation in both components. Steel decking running perpendicular to the frames forms the underside of the flat roof. The roof is a gravel surfaced, built-up assembly
The 20 foot wide dimension of the frames define the width of both the residence and studio. The residence consists of eight bays, and the studio is five bays wide. The open court that separates the two structures is the equivalent of four bays in width. The exposed steel frames are painted black,which visually delineates each bay and the shared structural rhythm of the two components. Diagonalcross-bracing,composed of metal cables visible on the exterior, provides structural stability for the frames.
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INTERIOR DECOR
As for the interior deisgn, The eames’ collection includes Ismu Noguchi floor lamps, Japanese kokeshi dolls, chinese lacquered pillows, a native american basket full of woven grass stems.
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DRAWINGS
EAST ELEVATION
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WE S T E L E V A T I O N
STUDIO
N O R T H E L E V A T I O N
SOUTH ELEVATION
HOUSE
N O R T H E L E V A T I O N
SOUTH ELEVATION
References • http://www.archdaily.com/66302/ad-classics-eames-house-charles-and-ray eames • http://www.eamesfoundation.org/ • http://www.google.com