Designer: Charles& Ray Eames
In the early 1940s, after working all day on MGM set designs, Charles Eames returned to his small L.A. apartment with his wife, Ray. Together the two designers worked through their evenings, using thin sheets of veneer and a bicycle-pump compressor, experimenting with wood-molding techniques. The technology they developed during those late hours made their revolutionary furniture designs possible, including this modest chair that Time magazine recently named the Best Design of the 20th Century. It is slightly lower and has a wider seat and back than the molded plywood chair. Five-ply seat and back. Eight-ply legs and lumbar support. Inner plies are maple.