April 23, 2012
Birdy pick of the week: Vitra’s Eames House Bird
It’s a total travesty that I’ve never featured the Eames House Bird as a “birdy pick of the week” before. I always thought it was a bit obvious, so I steered well clear. But since it’s “A Week of Modern” on Wee Birdy, I really can’t ignore this iconic little fellow any more.
The original black wooden bird was actually an Appalachian artefact (circa 1910) that Charles and Ray Eames picked up on their travels. It stood on the floor of their acclaimed Pacific Palisades house for over fifty years.
I love the way that their beloved collection of objects from different cultures and eras worked seamlessly to create this timeless yet very modern look. They clearly adored this bird because he pops up time and again in the Eames’s photos – and is used as a prop in many shoots of their iconic chairs.
In co-operation with the Eames family, Swiss designer furniture company Vitra has used 3-D scans of the original bird to create the solid alder wood reproduction. It’s made in Germany and you can get it from Nest in the UK (for £103.33) and from Space Furniture in Australia. It’s also available on DWR.
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Gemma Jones
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