Vitra - Eames Fiberglass Chair DSW Parchment ashwood

For the Dining Height Side Chair Wood Base (DSW), Charles and Ray Eames combined the organically shaped body with a four-legged wooden base. The combination of fiberglass and wood gives this classic design piece a certain warmth and a casual look, which can be further enhanced by the optional seat cushion.

In 1948, Charles and Ray Eames participated in the "International Competition for Low-Cost Furniture Design" competition, organized by the Museum of Modern Art in New York, presenting a seat with a seat shell shaped to adapt to the contours of the human body, together with a concept for various bases. Their design won the second prize. However, the metal body was too complex and expensive to allow for successful mass production. The two designers' research into alternative materials led them to polyester resin reinforced with fiberglass, until then mainly limited to military applications.

The Eames recognized and fully exploited the benefits of the material: printability, rigidity and sustainability for industrial manufacturing methods. With this material, previously unknown in the furniture industry, they successfully developed the shaped seat shells for series production: the Fiberglass Chair was born. The body with an organic shape, consisting of a single piece, proved to be an innovation that received great admiration, at a time when the chairs consisted mainly of seat and back. Glass fibre, moreover, offered the advantage of pleasant touch and a perfectly shaped shell for optimal comfort.

Charles e Ray Eames

The two designers married in 1941 and moved to Los Angeles, where they began experimenting with techniques for three-dimensional plywood molding. The goal was to create comfortable chairs at affordable prices. Charles and Ray Eames had a profound and lasting influence on Vitra.  It was the encounter with their work that stimulated the origins of the company as a furniture manufacturer.  Yet it is not just the products of Charles and Ray Eames that have left a mark on Vitra.  Even today, their design philosophy continues to significantly shape the company’s values, orientation and objectives. Vitra is the only authorized manufacturer of Eames products for Europe and the Middle East.

Charles and Ray Eames' furniture has been a milestone in the Vitra Design Museum’s collection since its inception.

Vitra

By combining the technical and conceptual experience with the creativity of contemporary designers, Vitra continues to push boundaries and question the status quo. Vitra’s origins as a design company lie in the casual discovery of a chair by Charles and Ray Eames in a New York showcase.

The spirit of innovation expressed by the creations of the couple represents a movement - modern design - and still continues to be the driving force behind the development, production and sale of furniture and accessories for people around the world, for life, work and public use.

The founder of Vitra, Willi Fehlbaum, first came across the creations of Ray and Charles Eames in the early 1950s. This decisive moment marked the beginnings of Vitra as a design company. Vitra has since collaborated with international designers and architects. While the first generation laid the commercial foundations of the company and the second added a cultural dimension through the development of the Vitra Campus and the Vitra Design Museum with its collection, The third generation focuses on sustainable thinking and action.