Charles & Ray Eames

The contemporary designers questioned in the insets all place them in their personal pantheon. Giulio Cappellini believes they are the greatest designers of all times. Who are the Eames, Charles (1907-1978) and Ray (1912-1988), a couple in their private life like in work? Perfectionists, believers in details, capable of designing chairs that have become great classics (Wire, Lounge Chair & Ottoman, Aluminium Group) as well as of developing an airport, children’s games or motives for prints or the whole IBM Pavilion at the New York Exhibition in 1964. The book reviews four decades of creation, enhancing certain key moments, such as the construction of their home on the heights of Pacific Palisades, and offers a complete panorama. It talks of their relations with big industry (Alcoa) or the intelligentsia (Billy Wilder) but lacks two must-have elements: a real chronology and an index.

• Charles & Ray Eames, by Maryse Quinton, published by La Martinière, 2015, 256 p., €45