EC178 Office Seating Prototype

This is a prototype for the Loose Cushion Armchair that was designed in the late 1960s but not commercialized until 1971 due to difficulties with production. Unlike the earlier Eames fiberglass chairs which were available with or without upholstery, the Loose Cushion chairs relied on new “foam-in-place” technology where the padding was injected between the upholstery and fiberglass through a hole in the shell and were therefore only offered with the upholstery covering that was necessary to their manufacture. An additional separate (or loose) cushion gives the chair its colloquial name. A year after the design was introduced, the Museum of Modern Art staged a retrospective exhibition of Eames furniture featuring it and many other designs. The essay that appeared in the accompanying catalog, which was penned by curator Arthur Drexler, concluded by praising the design, declaring, “Technically, this chair is among Eames’s most sophisticated and carefully studied productions.” This “careful study” was accomplished in large part through prototypes like this one, which were produced with staff members in the Eameses’ furniture workshop at their office in Venice, California, and in consultation with Herman MIller’s Gardena-based plant. The unique Milnilo-covered seat cushion that appears with this prototype was one of dozens of different versions that were made as part of the Eameses’ meticulous design process. Century Plastics Inc. in Compton, California, made the fiberglass-reinforced plastic shells for both the EC176 and EC178 armchairs. This particular prototype comes from the Eames Office at 901 Washington Boulevard.