The American designers Ray and Charles Eames created modern design classics by combining functionality and charm. The PRIAM and MIOS strollers from the CYBEX Platinum range are more than a tribute to the innovative power of their life’s work.
THE DESIGNERS AND ARCHITECTS RAY & CHARLES EAMES IN THEIR STUDIO
RECOGNISING THE NEED IS THE PRIMARY CONDITION FOR DESIGN
For the German Bauhaus movement, design was always closely linked to ideology. To put it wryly, its work followed the principle of “form follows religion”. But Ray and Charles Eames had a some- what different approach: they took the world as it is – and made it better. The dream team of American design met during the Second World War: he was an architect, she an artist. They started out designing leg splints, stretchers and aircraft parts for the US Navy. What came out of that experience was a strong curiosity about what could be achieved with limited means, and how to coax new characteristics and qualities out of simple materials. In the following decades, the couple would radically challenge conventional notions of beauty and utility, and their influence can be felt to this day. There is hardly a flat in Berlin-Mitte, Barcelona-Gracia or New York-Williamsburg, that does not contain at least one of their designs.
TAKE YOUR PLEASURE SERIOUSLY
What makes a classic? This is easily explained by example of Ray and Charles Eames’ biggest hits. The “Eames Plastic Side Chair” is actually just a piece of plastic moulded in alignment with the human anatomy to form a seat with armrests, and then screwed to a wire base. This simple design innovatively combined two materials, with plastic liberated from its reputation of being cheap. Meanwhile, the metal construction was a stylish reference to the strict functionalism of the machine age. What’s more, the “Eames Plastic Side Chair” enables countless configurations, with a variety of different legs, a rocking base and a wide range of colours. For Ray and Charles Eames, design had to be both functional and fun.
THE DETAILS ARE NOT THE DETAILS. THEY MAKE THE DESIGN.
Their “Lounge Chair” was also a product of this investigative spirit. Ray and Charles Eames began their experiments with the technique of bending plywood into three-dimensional curves in the 1940s. With their chair launched in 1956, the designers succeeded in finding a solution that still sets standards today. Inspired by the ingenious simplicity, functionality and beauty expressed by the Eames’s design language, the CYBEX design team asked itself: “How would Ray and Charles Eames design strollers if they were alive today?” The aim was to pay tribute to these two designers by translating their high aesthetic and functional standards into a stroller.
INSPIRED BY THE EAMES’ BEAUTY OF SIMPLICITY: THE MIOS AND PRIAM
This is how the new PRIAM and MIOS came into being, a fusion of highest quality and functionality with incomparable lightness and timeless, elegant design. Both models are an homage to the legacy of Ray and Charles Eames. In developing these premium strollers attuned to the challenges of contemporary life, CYBEX has taken their motto to heart: “The details are not the details. The details make the design.”
THE EAMES
SPIRIT
The spirit of Ray and Charles Eames is in the air!
Who ever said that functionality, comfort and aesthetics can’t go hand in hand? The creative duo disproved this view over 60 years ago, creating classics defined by ingenious simplicity, functionality and an elegant design language.
This inspired CYBEX to bring their vision into the here and now, according to the principle: form follows family!