Charles Eames

Charles Eames, born 1907 in St. Louis, Missouri, studied architecture at Washington University in St. Louis and designed a number of houses and churches in collaboration with various partners. His work caught the attention of Eliel Saarinen, who offered him a fellowship at the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan in 1938. In 1940, he and Eero Saarinen won first prize in the 'Organic Design in Home Furnishings' competition, organised by the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York. Eames was appointed head of the industrial design department at Cranbrook the same year.

It was at Cranbrook that he met Ray. They went on to marry and make groundbreaking contributions to the fields of architecture, furniture design, industrial design and manufacturing.