The Fiberglass Chairs: Something of How They Get the Way They Are
1970
16mm film transferred to video
Not on view
The Eameses often adapted industrial materials to bring affordable, mass-produced designs to American households. Designed for MoMA’s 1948 International Competition for Low-Cost Furniture Design, launched to respond to the needs of a burgeoning middle class in the postwar period, the RAR was originally made of stamped metal. The Eameses later turned to fiberglass, invented in the 1930s and used during WWII only for military applications. The chair was initially offered in three neutral colors—“parchment,” “elephant hide grey,” and “greige”—and with several different bases. At the time, it retailed for $9.88. A few decades later, the RAR remains in production as an evergreen icon of mid-century modern design.
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