Cultivate Curiosity
When Ray and Charles Eames were asked “What are the boundaries of design?” they responded by turning the question on its head: “What are the boundaries of problems?” It is in this spirit that we welcome you to the Eames Institute of Infinite Curiosity, where the lessons Ray and Charles left us through their body of work, and more importantly, how they approached that work, are brought to life for a new generation willing to explore the “boundaries of problems.”
Containing thousands of artifacts, the Eames Collection is a one-of-a-kind record of the Eameses’ extraordinary partnership that encapsulates their unique methodologies and diverse interests. It offers countless examples of Ray and Charles’s process, and illustrates the lessons we can take from their approach to design. The Eames Institute is responsible for stewarding this remarkable body of work, while also making it accessible to other institutions and the public at large.
As we bring the Eameses’ lessons to life through our programming and properties like the Ranch, we invite you to join our community of curious problem-solvers and make design a critical tool in your world.
Creating a New Home for Art and Design
We’re thrilled to begin transforming the Bay Area’s historic Birkenstock property to create a world-class art and design museum. The adaptive reuse of the campus’s iconic mid-century modern buildings provides an unmatched platform to build out the Institute’s vision: establishing a dynamic destination that will host a significant portion of the Eames Collection and family archives in addition to broader collections, art exhibitions, experiences, workshops, makerspaces, and high-impact community and educational programming.
The Eames Institute acknowledges the property currently identified as the Eames Ranch to be a part of the traditional territory of the Meleya and Amayelle tribes of the Coast Miwok people. We honor the Coast Miwok—past, present, and future—as the original stewards of this special place, and appreciate the enduring legacy, connections, and relationships they have to their ancestral homeland. We humbly aim to create a safe place that welcomes everyone in an atmosphere of trust and knowledge-sharing.
As a cultural institute with a focus on progressive agricultural practices and the preservation and public display of artifacts that include many items from non-Euro-American cultures, we recognize that our knowledge systems are often biased, incomplete, and exclusionary. We aim to foster a culture of continuous learning that honors ancestries and traditions that are not our own, and builds relationships of mutual respect and understanding.
We recognize that this work is a continual work in progress, and our goal is to make it as inclusive, collaborative, accurate, and deferential as possible. If you have feedback, questions, or comments, we welcome your voice and contribution.
What’s an Institute for Anyway?
John Cary, president and CEO of the Eames Institute, offers a vision of why we do what we do.
© Eames Office, LLC
A Legacy Preserved
As great as Ray and Charles were as designers, they were even better grandparents, according to Llisa Demetrios. While we look forward to sharing more Eames family perspectives, here we join Llisa as she takes a personal look back at their memorable interactions and lasting influence—the myriad lessons passed along from Ray and Charles through her mother Lucia Eames that help sustain and advance the Eames legacy today.
Image top left © Eames Office, LLC. Image top right by Eliza Gregory, October, 2003.
A World of Eames
Since 1988, three generations of the Eames family have contributed to the project of upholding and promoting Ray and Charles’s vital cultural and commercial legacy. We are honored to work alongside the Eames Office in their effort to communicate, preserve, and extend the Eameses’ work, and the Eames Foundation as it preserves and protects Ray and Charles’s historic home, Case Study House #8 in Los Angeles, California.
Image top right, 1958 © J. Paul Getty Trust. Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles (2004.R.10). Used under permission from the Getty Research Institute. Image bottom left, © Eames Office, LLC.
Meet Our Team
Get to know our team of dreamers and builders who believe design has the power to change the world for the better.
