AO 2

FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT
You have to live under a rock if you have never heard of Frank Lloyd Wright, his work is some of the most highly regarded work ever done in his field. He was born on June 8, 1867 and died on April 9, 1959 during surgery to remove an intestinal obstruction. He was married three times and had seven children. During his lifetime he designed more then 1000 works and ended up completing over 500 of them, one of his most famous designs was Falling Water, which in 1966 was designated as a National Historic Landmark. He also did such notable works as the Guggenheim museum in Manhattan and the Price Tower located in Oklahoma (the only realized skyscraper designed by Wright). Wright promoted organic architecture, which is a philosophy of architecture that promotes the harmony between human habitation and the natural world (as seen in falling water), as well as Prairie School style architecture, which is marked by horizontal lines, flat or hipped roofs with overhanging eaves, and windows grouped in horizontal bands.




"Frank Lloyd Wright." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. 12 Apr. 2011. Web. 16 Apr. 2011.




RUSSEL WRIGHT
When looking around the library at the Wexner Center for Arts i found a journal talking about the 1953 American Home Expedition, which was a convention of sorts to show off the new housewares and appliances that people were going to be able to soon buy, and i found this designers name by a section for the silverware used in the Expo. Russel was born on April 3, 1904 in Lebanon, Ohio and died on December 21, 1976. He had one wife Mary Small Einstein and a daughter named Annie who still manages her fathers designs and products through Russel Wright Studios. Russel's method of design came from the concept that the table was the center of the home and he created layers outward from the table including tableware and furniture as well as architecture and landscaping, all which he did according to his concept of easy informal living. He is most known for his colorful dinnerware called American Modern, it was the most widely sold ceramic dinnerware in American history. 
Wright also did lines of dinnerware made of a plastic called Melmac and did early research with the plastic to make it ready to be used. His first line of melmac plastic dinnerware was called "Residential" and grossed over 4 million dollars in 1957. After he retired he returned to his home in New York and  built an eco-sensitive home named Manitoga and a studio called Dragon Rock, both are on the National Register of Historic Places.


"Russel Wright." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. 4 Apr. 2011. Web. 16 Apr. 2011.


CHARLES AND RAY EAMES
The first i had ever heard about the Eames Husband and Wife Duo was in class as we went over the history of design and did the chair presentation and their chairs looked really bad-ass and comfortable so i decided i would dive deeper into the lives of these two influential American designers.


Charles Eames Jr. (Picture Credit)   was born on June 17, 1907 and died on August 21, 1978. He attended Washington University for two years on an architecture scholarship and was supposedly kicked out for his advocacy of Frank Lloyd Wright, some say it was because he also worked at an architectural firm during the two years and his work caused his performance to fall dramatically. While at Washington University Charles met his first wife Catherine Woermann, whom he married in 1929. A year later, they had a daughter, Lucia. In 1930 Charles started his own architectural practice with partners Charles Gray and Walter Pauley. In 1938 he moved to Michigan to further study        architecture at the Cranbrook Academy of Art where he would become a teacher and later the head of the industrial design department. While at Cranbrook he and Eero Saarinen designed furniture for the New York's Museum of Modern Art "Organic Design in Home Furnishings" competition using a new style of wood moulding that he would later use in many of his other pieces and projects. 


 Ray-Bernice Alexandra Kaiser Eames (Picture Credit)  was born on December 15, 1912 and died on August 21, 1988 (exactly 10 years after Charles passed). In 1933 she graduated from Bennett Woman's College, she moved to New York after graduating and studied abstract expressionist painting with Hans Hofmann, she later founded the American Abstract Artist group in 1936. In September of 1940 she moved to Michigan where she studied at the Cranbrook Academy of Art and met Charles Eames and assisted him with his projects for the "Organic Designs in Home Furnishings" competition. She Designed several covers for the landmark magazine Arts & Architecture as well as created two textile designs (Crosspatch and Sea Things) which were produced by Schiffer Prints.         


Charles and Ray married in 1941 and moved to California where they continued working with molding plywood and using it in Furniture Designs. During the war they were commissioned by the navy to make and produce molded plywood splints, stretchers, and experimental glider shells. During the 50's the Eameses joined in on the short film scene, creating short films ranging on the subjects of small sea creatures fo the workings of the computer. They also designed many exhibits for people such as IBM,  and the Smithsonian Institution; Mathematica, Copernicus, and the 1964 New York World Fair were among the exhibits. They continued making Furniture into 70' as well, two of there furniture designs that i think are really cool and sleek are the Eames Lounge Chair Wood (left) and the Eames Lounge Chair and ottoman (right), both pictured below. 
            




"Charles and Ray Eames" Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. 12 Apr. 2011. Web. 16 Apr. 2011.
"Charles and Ray" Eamesoffice.com. Web. 16 Apr. 2011