ECS
EAMES CONTRACT STORAGE
Eames Office and The Herman Miller Furniture Company
Zeeland, Michigan: The Herman Miller Furniture Company, Special Products Division, n. d. [1961]. Original edition. 2-color brochure that unfolds to poster size. Folded as issued. Uncoated paper lightly toned at folds, otherwise a fine copy. Rare.
7.25 x 7.25-inch brochure that unfolds to a 21.75 x 21.75-inch poster for the revolutionary Eames Contract Storage Units. Uncredited graphic design and photography from the Eames Office.
Excerpted from Neuhart, Neuhar, and Eames: EAMES DESIGN: THE WORK OF THE OFFICE OF CHARLES AND RAY EAMES [New York: Abrams 1989]: "Eames Contract Storage Units were designed to replace most of the furniture needed in a dormitory or other institutional residence. ECS, as it was called, included space for sleeping, working or studying, and storage. The self-contained system was designed to be a comfortable, organized, and durable living arrangement for students. ECS had five parts -- three closets, a desk unit, and a folding bed -- any combination of which could be purchased from the Herman Miller Furniture Company. The units were delivered as a knock down item, ready to be bolted on two standard Unistrut sections mounted horizontally on a wall at the top and bottom of the unit . . . ".
"The storage closets came fully outfitted with wire shelves and drawers, coat hooks, towel bars, and lights. The sleeping mattress rested on a pivoting counterbalanced birch slab, which when closed matched the solid-core birch doors of the closets. The only area left open was the desk, which was provided with a built-in light, backboard, and filing cabinet. The detailing of the system was extensive; door handles were made of polished cast aluminum, extruded aluminum strips formed continuous hinges at the sides of each unit, and the fir plywood partitions had a black phenolic plastic coating embossed with a gridlike design to resist scratches and dents . . . ."
"Herman Miller began marketing the system in 1961, and it was installed in dormitories on college campuses . . . . Though the system had great potential as a dormitory solution, federal support for such facilities at educational institutions was halted, and as more students began living off-campus in the 1960s, the need for new dorms declined drastically. As a result, sales declined and ECS was discontinued in 1969."
In a characteristically wry 1944 correspondence with Herman Miller founder, DJ De Pree, George Nelson wrote that “your reservations on my suitability as a designer for Herman Miller Co., impressed me very much for they seem to be well founded… the question of lack of experience in the commercial furniture field is also important, but here, I am afraid, you and your associates will have to make the decision on your own.” Fast forward four years later, and Nelson once again found himself reflecting on the integrity of the Herman Miller Co., but this time, not as a potential hire but rather as Herman Miller’s founding creative director. In the 1948 introduction to the catalogue for his first ever collection for the company, he writes, “From the viewpoint of the designer, which is the only viewpoint I can assume with any degree of propriety, the Herman Miller Furniture Company is a rather remarkable institution.”
Whatever leap of faith was required of De Pree to hire Nelson, the affinity and mutual respect shared between the two was undeniably fruitful. Nelson credits Herman Miller’s singularity as a result of a “philosophy” or “attitude” compounded of a set of principles—that what you make is important; that design is integral to business; that products must be honest; that only we can decide what we make, and that there is a market for good design—that allow for a degree of autonomy and innovation unavailable to companies driven by the shallow demands of the market or sales. “There is no attempt to conform to the so-called norms of ‘public taste,’ nor any special faith in the methods used to evaluate the ‘buying public.’ The reason many people are struck by the freshness of Herman Miller designs is that the company is not playing follow-the-leader.”
George Nelson (1908 – 1986) possessed one of the most inventive minds of the 20th century. Nelson was one of those rare people who could envision what isn’t there yet. Nelson described his creative abilities as a series of “zaps” – flashes of inspiration and clarity that he turned into innovative design ideas.
One such “zap” came in 1942 when Nelson conceived the first-ever pedestrian shopping mall – now a ubiquitous feature of our architectural landscape – detailed in his “Grass on Main Street” article. Soon after, he pioneered the concept of built-in storage with the storage wall, a system of storage units that rested on slatted platform benches. The first modular storage system ever, it was showcased in Life magazine and caused an immediate sensation in the furniture industry.
In 1946, Nelson became director of design at Herman Miller, a position he held until 1972. While there, Nelson recruited other seminal modern designers, including Charles Eames and Isamu Noguchi. He also developed his own designs, including the Marshmallow Sofa, the Nelson Platform Bench and the first L-shaped desk, a precursor to the present-day workstation. He also created a series of boldly graphic wall clocks and a series of bubble lamps made of self-webbing plastic.
Nelson felt that designers must be “aware of the consequences of their actions on people and society and thus cultivate a broad base of knowledge and understanding.” He was an early environmentalist, one of the first designers to take an interest in new communications technology and a powerful writer and teacher. Perhaps influenced by his friend, Buckminster Fuller, Nelson’s ultimate goal as a designer was “to do much more with much less.”
”Eventually everything connects – people, ideas, objects, etc., . . . the quality of the connections is the key to quality per se.” — Charles Eames
Charles (1907 – 1978) and Ray Eames (1912 – 1988) created more than a look with their bent plywood chairs or molded fiberglass seating. They had ideas about making a better world, one in which things were designed to fulfill the practical needs of ordinary people and bring greater simplicity and pleasure to our lives.
”. . . everything hangs on something else.” — Ray Eames
The Eameses adventurously pursued new ideas and forms with a sense of serious fun. Yet, it was rigorous discipline that allowed them to achieve perfection of form and mastery over materials. As Charles noted about the molded plywood chair, “Yes, it was a flash of inspiration,” he said, “a kind of 30-year flash.” Combining imagination and thought, art and science, Charles and Ray Eames created some of the most influential expressions of 20th century design – furniture that remains stylish, fresh and functional today.
And they didn't stop with furniture. The Eameses also created a highly innovative “case study” house in response to a magazine contest. They made films, including a seven-screen installation at the 1959 Moscow World's Fair, presented in a dome designed by Buckminster Fuller. They designed showrooms, invented toys and generally made the world a more interesting place to be. As the most important exponents of organic design, Charles and Ray Eames demonstrated how good design can improve quality of life and human understanding and knowledge.