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Eames Case Study #8 House
Caterina V. Garcia
Table of Contents 3 Background 4 Ray + Charles 5 Social + Historical Context 6 Location 7 Site + Context 8 Materials 9 Spatial Relationships/Furniture 10 Program 11 Design + Aesthetics 12 Technical Drawings 13 Long Elevations 14 Short Elevations 15 Floor Plans 16 Sustainability 17 References 2
B a c kg r o u n d Case Study #8: Eames House Built: 1949, Pacific Palisades Designers: Ray + Charles Eames
1950
1949
Case Study #9: Entenza House Built: 1950, Pacific Palisades Designers: Charles Eames + Eero Saarinen
The Case Study Program (1945-1966) commissioned popular architects to build inexpensive and efficient homes for the post-World War II housing boom. It was designed to accommodate the large numbers of soldiers who were returning home from the war and did not have financial capital to purchase homes and was sponsored by the Arts & Architecture Magazine. Thirty-six houses were designed, but not all were built. Most of the homes that were built are located in Los Angeles.
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Ray + Charles
Charles and Ray Kaiser met while they were studying architecture at the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan. They married in 1941, after Charles’ divorce from his first wife, Catherine. Besides their integral roles in the world of architecture, the Eameses were also influential in the worlds of furniture design, graphic design, fine art, and film. Together they received many distinctions such as the American Institute of Architects (AIA) “Twenty-Five Year Award” in 1977, the Royal Gold Medal in 1979, and the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) “Most Influential Designer of the 20th Century” in 1985. In 1949, Charles and Ray, a husband and wife team, designed and built their home as part of the Case Study House Program. This house became very popular and well known due to their design and innovative use of materials throughout the home. The home was designed to express a man’s life in the modern world. It is considered one of the most important post-war residences. The Eameses’ goal was to bring American modernism to the rest of the world. Their furniture, toys, buildings, films, exhibitions, and books were all aimed at improving the lives of average people. Charles and Ray Eames were communicators and educators, always looking for inventive ways to share their ideas with broader audiences. In 1945, Charles Eames and Eero Saarinen designed the first plan of the home, which was known as the Bridge House. Charles and Ray were finally able to move into their house on Christmas Eve of 1949.
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Social + Historical Context
Ray and Charles Eames created a home that would be functional + affordable for many people and were designed to use materials that were readily available. Despite the affordability of the home, they were able to enhance the design of the house by including many glass panels which allowed the people living within the house to be more highly integrated with nature and the natural world by providing an abundance of natural light.
Design was formulated in order to preserve the trees that were naturally found on the site, i.e. Eucalyptus trees. The home was designed to integrate the foliage that was native to the site, so the trees envelop the home. When they first started designing, they used the method of placement on the site, they later modified that design to integrate the structure with the site and nature, including a meadow that the designers fell in love with.
The home was designed to be economical to build, while also using affordable materials because many soldiers returning home from World War II might be using this design in order to accommodate themselves and their families. The privacy of these families was also taken into account, so the Eameses decided to incorporate solid panels which blocked the view of outsiders to the interior spaces they deemed necessary.
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L o c a t i o n
The home is located on a 1.4 acre lot in the Pacific Palisades along the Pacific Coast between Santa Monica and Malibu on a lower plateau on the northern edge of the Santa Monica Canyon. Three-acre site on top of a 150foot cliff that overlooks the Pacific Ocean. The north side of the lot slopes up to a wooded bluff; in the middle is a grassy meadow. Charles and Ray “fell in love with the meadow� on the site and wanted to integrate the home with the landscape. Because of the geographical area the home was in, they did not want to give up the beauty of the landscape in order to build their home.
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The site is a flat parcel on otherwise steep land that creates a retaining wall to the west. The response to the flat plot of land was a concrete retaining wall that ties together the two boxes separated by a courtyard that make up the parti of the residence. The two boxes serve two different functions. One is for the residence itself and the other is a studio. Both provide double-height spaces at the corners and outer ends of both programs. This allows for a composition that breaks the space up rhythmically, and is read on the exterior of the house with the exterior courtyard serving as a double-height space in between both boxes. The use of natural materials on the interior bring the residence closer to nature, giving the appearance of the house resting softly on the earth. The colors of the solid exterior panels correspond to the interior functions that are taking place. The house is screened by a row of eucalyptus trees that run parallel to the main façade of the studio and residence. From that line of trees, the property then slopes downward to the meadow and is left at its natural state and with all of these thoughtful landscape features they were able to contribute to the overall feel of the Eames House.
SITE + Context
Ray and Charles came up with various schemes in order to allow lighting into certain spaces at certain times of the day through color, transparency, and placement of the wall panels. The main steel frame itself is purposefully thin in order to give the impression of uninterrupted space going from the exterior into the interior. Contrast to the cold steel framing that forms the structure, the interior of the house is warm and comforting with its wood-block floor and the soft light penetrating into each room through each day. The Eames House is a beautiful continuation of space. The rooms are liberating, flowing into one another even between floors through the doubleheight spaces. Private and public spaces are not strictly divided. For example, the bedroom on the upper level overlooks the public living room with a short terrace that connects the rooms. There are no major divisions other than the separation of the two boxes, which still merge into one another with the courtyard. Large open spaces in the interior spaces are purposefully open to not force a certain use into each space but rather them all be multi purpose spaces.
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M A T E R I A L S
The roof is covered in a gravel material which integrates the natural environment which surrounds the home, and a steel decking forms the underside of the roof, which is flat, and runs perpendicular to the frames. Each bay within the home is also infilled with materials, such as plaster, plywood, asbestos, glass, and pylon. There was a mixture of transparent and translucent glass used throughout the home, while the area in the studio used reinforced glass. Many of the glass areas throughout the home create the exterior walls of the home, allowing for a great amount of transparency and filtration of natural light. The house uses materials and techniques that resulted from the experiences and material shortages caused by the Second World War. It was designed to use per-fabricated materials that could be ordered from catalogs which emphasizes the idea of mass-production. The main materials are concrete (for the foundation); glass, stucco, wood, asbestos, metal, and synthetics (for the walls); asphalt (for the roof); and metal through the use of a steel frame. The northernmost boundary of the home has a drive edged with a winding brick wall with mortar, designed by Richard Neutra.
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S PA T I A L
RELATIONSHIPS
The house is divided into two rectangular sections which create a residential area and as well as a studio area. The house was designed for a married couple that made up of two graphic artists, whose children no longer lived at home. The two separate buildings help to keep the living space and the working space separate, but conveniently closely located. The house highly integrates the natural landscape which surrounds it, an aspect that was closely measured by the designers. The materials within the home serve to emphasize the landscape, through the use of wood, a natural element; and glass, an element which allows for extreme transparency, the house almost becomes one with the natural landscape. The walls that face the rear of the house are solid, which allows for a greater amount of privacy within the home. The two separate areas of the home are connected with the use of a courtyard and the interior of the home also connects these two seemingly separate spaces through the use of double height ceilings, which allow for a greater transparency and interconnection. The Eameses also designed their own furniture for the house, which was intended to go with the modern style of the home, while also incorporating the sense of comfort that they wished to instill in all their designs. Their furniture also incorporated many natural elements, such as wood and leather, which were celebrated, rather than being covered in paint. Their furniture was available in all ranges of colors and there was a clear stylistic quality to all the pieces in their collections.
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M A R G O R P
The program outlined specific objectives which included the integration of outdoor and indoor living spaces, the application of the techniques of mass production to integrate into the process of home building, creating a unique design for a home by using prefabricated, standard, and off-the-shelf parts, promoting Modernism through simple form, and trying to avoid referencing any historical styles. The designer and client in this project were one in the same, though the design was meant to be used repeatedly by other American families. The design supports the separation of work and home life. The house is made up of two volumes, one is the residential portion, and the other is the studio. The residential portion accounts for 1,500 square feet of the home, while the studio makes up the remaining 1,000 square feet. The home is made up of 20’ x 7’ 4”x 17’ bays. The house’s emphasis on the studio area demonstrates the importance of the art culture in the designer/client’s life. The rear (westernmost) wall’s solidity provided for a much more private house, while the large glass walls allowed for high integration with the natural surroundings. The spaces, including the courtyard between the two structures were all designed to provide a dialogue between interior spaces and the exterior.
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Design + Aesthetics
The look and feel of the project is displayed throughout the house in unique ways. Panels in black, white, blue, red, and yellow resemble Mondrian paintings that are attached to the prefabricated materials within the house. These panels are placed strategically in order to allow light to flow in to the house, and the trees in front allow for shade to help keep the inside cooler. Their desire to maintain the meadow allowed for the integration of inside and outside through the mixture of the materials and created by the courtyard that is divided between the living area and studio. On the interior, double-height, glass-paneled spaces occupy the outermost portions of each component, which creates alternating positive and negative spaces. Smaller interior spaces, like the upstairs bathrooms and bedrooms, have well placed glazed panels that provide light without compromising privacy. The double height spaces throughout the home have solid rear walls. The design of the house as a whole reflects space, light, and flexibility. There is a rhythm between double height and single height spaces, creating public and private spaces within the living area and the studio, but not strictly. Individual bays are defined by steel frames which have two rows of 4” H-columns that are 20’ apart with a 12” open-web joint that forms top. The rear elevation’s vertical members are partially embedded into 8’ high poured concrete columns. On the exterior of the home, there is a visible diagonal cross-bracing, which provides structural stability for the frames.
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Vo l u m e t r i c distribution The integration of a studio space in the home showed Ray and Charles Eames’ dedication to their art form. By separating the studio from the house, there is a clear emphasis placed on the importance of studio life. This part of the structure is much more open than the living quarters, allowing for a greater integration of the natural landscape while at work.
The larger volume of the house contains the living spaces. While larger, this space is more enclosed on the exterior due to the large amounts of solid panels. This enclosure allows for more privacy in areas such as the bedroom and living room, where the family would interact.
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Long Elevations West Elevation Colored Panels
Wooden Panels
Clear Glass Panels
Black Panels
Steel Frame
East Elevation Metal Panels
Clear Glass Panels
Steel Frame
White Panel Retaining Wall
Colored Walls Black Panel
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Short Elevations House–North Elevation
House–South Elevation
White Panel Clear Glass Panels
Clear Glass Panels
White Panel
Retaining Wall
Wood Panels
Steel Frame
Studio–North Elevation
Studio–South Elevation Colored Panels
Retaining Wall
Wood Panels
White Panel Steel Frame Steel Frame White Panel
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Floor Plans
Grey Tile
White Tile
Parquet Wood Flooring
Brick (Courtyard)
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S U S T A I N A B I L I T Y
Ray and Charles Eames sought to maintain the environmental integrity of the land which they used to build this home, and work with the site in order to incorporate the existing landscape and natural greenery. The Eames House was designed to use prefabricated materials, which allowed material cost to be lowered; and because the home only took about a day and a half to build, the labor costs were also lowered. The design worked with the site to prevent the relocation of any of the trees, mainly the eucalyptus trees, which were native to the area in which the home was built. The inclusion of glass surfaces allowed for much more natural light than most homes, which resulted in lower energy costs. The materials found within the site have remained virtually intact, with the only real change being the maturation of the natural landscape.
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R e f e r e n c e s http://www.archdaily.com/66302/ad-classics-eames-house-charles-and-ray-eames http://eameshouseresearch.weebly.com/blog http://www.eamesfoundation.org http://www.nps.gov/nhl/find/statelists/ca/Eames.pdf http://www.eamesoffice.com/the-work/eames-house-case-study-house-8/ http://inhabitat.com/the-eames-house-sparked-new-thinking-in-modern-living/
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