Stories
Featured
The Art of the Company Picnic
The Eames Institute continues a time-honored tradition with a poster for our annual Friends & Family Summer Picnic, inspired by Steve Frykholm’s iconic designs for Herman Miller. The tradition celebrates the spirit of summer, community, and the enduring role of design in bringing people together.
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Inside Letterform Archive with Rob Saunders
Bringing analog genius to a generation of digital natives, 2026 Curious 100 honoree Rob Saunders shares the history of graphic design from San Francisco, hands-on and online.
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Cultural Corridor: Sonoma County
Explore everything from botanical gardens and birdwatching to local art and history along the SMART rail line.
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Cultural Corridor: Marin County
Explore everything from art and architecture to history and science along the SMART rail line that runs along Highway 101.
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Legacy Portraits: Annette Del Zoppo
Moving between photography, film, architecture, and design, Annette Del Zoppo’s Eames Office years shaped a boundless practice that carried its way of seeing into all of her work.
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The Art and Design of the Hypar Roof
The future home of the Institute’s museum is a roadside icon, its distinctive roof a striking example of mid-century engineering ingenuity.
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The Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman at 70
Celebrating the 70th Anniversary of the Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman—an enduring icon revealed through a prototype, material studies, and the Eameses’ design process.
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Legacy Portraits: Sam Passalacqua
Spanning more than two decades, Sam Passalacqua’s career at the Eames Office reveals the steady craft, care, and commitment behind some of the studio’s most enduring work.
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What’s a Museum for Anyway?
John Cary, president and CEO of the Eames Institute, shares the vision for a dynamic cultural space dedicated to the chain reactions of creativity.
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Destination Eames: Mathematica
The Eameses’ brilliance in designing experiences is palpably evident in “Mathematica,” their first exhibition.
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Design Q&A: Kelli Anderson
By asking unanswerable questions, following the trail of curiosity, and doing things “wrong,” designer Kelli Anderson invites us into a world where wonder abounds.
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Design Q&A: Barbara Kasten
Working with a lyrical palette of light, form, space, and time, Barbara Kasten investigates abstraction, ephemerality, and the notion of artwork itself.
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Destination Eames: Case Study House No. 8
In 1949, Ray and Charles Eames completed their house, an exemplar of Modernism; today, it remains a cultural icon—an embodiment of the couple’s brilliance.
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The Rainbow Connection
In starting Project Color Corps, Laura Guido-Clark found that a coat of paint is a first step in empowering children and transforming schools.
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Destination Eames: Cranbrook
At the Michigan campus where Ray and Charles Eames first met, the Cranbrook Art Museum archives their transformational evolution of American design.
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Design Q&A: Shigeru Ban
Shigeru Ban creates architecture where purpose intersects with form. While he says he isn’t an altruist, his work suggests otherwise.
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Design Q&A: Formafantasma
In museum exhibitions and corporate projects alike, Formafantasma is pushing design to consider ecological impacts and the imperative of social justice.
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Design Q&A: Maurice Woods
Through mentoring young students of color, Inneract Project is addressing design’s homogeneity and bringing essential voices into the field.
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Conservation Conversation
The heirs of the Eameses and Achille Castiglioni discuss the nuances, delights, and challenges of discovering and sharing their respective legacies.
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Agricultural Regeneration
Through centering Black culture, Kamal Bell is reconceiving food systems, inspiring Black youth to farm, and shepherding the future of food justice.
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An Eames of Your Own
Few designs have the longevity of Eames furniture, but buying vintage can be mystifying; our in-house expert explains what to look for—and what to avoid.
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Sketch to Table
At Oakland, California’s Snail Bar, chef Andres Giraldo Florez’s ever-evolving menu starts with just two ingredients: graphite on paper.
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Design Q&A: Industrial Facility
In designs ranging from chairs to a toilet brush, Industrial Facility forgoes a signature aesthetic in favor of long-term relationships and rigorous inquiry.
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Shelf Life
Bill Stout’s legacy rests on his passion for books about architecture. In this condensed oral history, he shares his story.
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Design Q&A: David Zilber
From the acclaimed menus of Noma to the labs of Chr. Hansen, David Zilber devotes his genius to revolutionizing food, billions of microbes at a time.
