Vitra and Eames on display at The Office Exhibition 2008

History will remember Charles and Ray Eames as one of the 20th century's most fruitful collaborations. In work spanning four decades, they created a series of groundbreaking films, buildings, and exhibitions in addition to their prolific output in furniture which today is seen as one of the greatest contributions to 20th century design.

Vitra has produced the furniture of Charles and Ray Eames since 1957. Willi Fehlbaum, father of Vitra Chairman Rolf Fehlbaum, saw the Eames furniture when he visited the USA in 1953. A relationship developed, first with Charles and Ray Eames, and later with his grandson Eames Demetrios, now director of the Eames Office.

In an exclusive first for Dubai and the Middle East, visitors to The Office Exhibition 2008 will not only be able to admire a wide selection of milestone Eames designs on the Vitra stand, they will also have a unique opportunity to attend the keynote lecture by Eames Demetrios himself, at the Workplace Freedom Seminars organised by Cityspace, where he will be joined by a host of leading international specialists who will share their knowledge and expertise on four essential areas of our working life: workplace design, planning, ergonomics and innovation.

"The Office Exhibition is extremely proud to present Vitra and their exclusive collection of classic Charles and Ray Eames furniture designs, together with the master lecture by Eames Demetrios during the Freedom Seminars. Anyone familiar with the history of 20th century design will recognise this as a unique opportunity to see first-hand some of the most important historic design icons, whose influence still reverberates throughout the world of office furniture and industrial design today," commented Exhibition Director Paula Al Chami.

Design Experience
The goal of both Vitra and the Eames family is to spread the design message of Charles and Ray Eames and to give the customer the design experience Charles and Ray intended.

The most obvious part of this project is to make all their important design contributions available, not just the commercially relevant ones. Next to the most successful models like the Aluminum Chair and Soft Pad Group, the Eames Plastic Chairs or the 1956 Lounge Chair, Vitra's Eames catalogue contains a wide range of other designs, such as the 1945/46 Plywood Group, the 1949 Eames Storage Units, the 1951 Wire Chair Group, the 1953 Hang it all and the 1960 Lobby Chair and Stools.

Vitra presents its complete Eames Collection including some recently re-edited designs. For the first time, a precursor of many of the most important developments of postwar design will be on display: Charles Eames' and Eero Saarinen's Organic Chair, which won a first prize at the Museum of Modern Art's 1940 competition "Organic Design in Home Furnishings".

Given the importance of Charles and Ray Eames' contribution to 20th century design, it is not surprising that many of the commercially successful Eames products are copied. Physically, the copies are similar to the original, but they always lack a crucial thing: the link to the designers and their successors. This link makes a product legitimate and it is the only guarantee that the product reflects the designer's intention in every detail.

Regarding the distinction between an original and a copy, Charles Eames's grandson Eames Demetrios applies a simple rule: "I am often asked if it is hard to tell an authentic Eames design from a copy. It's not. You look at the label: if it says Vitra, it's authentic. For 50 years the Eames Office and Vitra have been working together to guarantee that you get the original design experience envisioned by Charles and Ray Eames. If it is not Vitra, it is not Eames, period."

Vitra, Charles and Ray Eames, and Eames Demetrios will all be present at The Office Exhibition 2008, from 4th to 6th February 2008 at Dubai International Exhibition Centre.