Welcome to a new series here at Basis, ________ vs. ________, in which we debate the value, design and, to borrow a phrase, the gorgeousness and gorgeousity of our respective combatants. This week: the Eames Lounge Chair, titan of the Eames empire, and the Womb Chair, birthed from the generous mind of Eero Saarinen, contemporary and friend to the Eameses. Let us begin:
Category 1: Looks
Classic, rich, elegant, luxurious. Word association is fun! Anyway, the Eames Lounge Chair obviously looks great. Charles Eames had always said the inspiration for the chair was a well used, well loved catchers mitt. We definitely see that in the chair. The various options for customizing the chair, like different kinds of wood and colors of leather, can be played with at Smart Furniture’s Eames Lounge Chair Smart Designer (we’ve posted about it before).
Original, playful, welcoming, vibrant. Still fun! The Womb Chair is the product of Eero Saarinen, a good friend of the Eameses and and influence on their work. This chair is a wire based product, fashioned after the beautiful sculptural designs pioneered by Harry Bertoia in Italy. Does it look like a womb, it’s namesake? We can certainly see it. Not as dark maybe.
Looks Final Score: ELC (8/10) WC (9/10) Womb Chair wins this category in a squeaker!
Category 2: Comfort
This is the child’s Womb Chair, made for little ones, and look how comfortable they are. The padding in the chair is soft and inviting, the backing perhaps leaves a little something to be desired (the “pillow” there is short, not coming all the way up your back). Overall, a very comfortable chair, but nothing to really knock you out.
Okay, let’s get real. If there’s a lounge chair more comfortable, more luxuriously soft and sinking, than the Eames Lounge Chair, then I haven’t sat in it, or even seen it. This is the absolute top of the line when it comes to comfort. If you’re even a little bit tired, you’ll be asleep in no time, just like the charming model seen above.
Comfort Final Score: ELC (10/10) WC (8/10) Eames wins, and it’s not as close as it looks; this one might go to eleven.
Category 3: Design
The design for this chair is stunning. The wired structure is closer to sculpture than furniture, and the clever curvature of the arms and backing form a beguiling image indeed. It’s comfortable, it looks amazing, and in it’s time it represented a major step forward in the design of common furniture for the common home. It makes the ordinary (a chair) extraordinary (the Womb Chair).
The Classic Eames Lounge Chair uses materials and processes every bit as impressive as the Womb Chair. The molded plywood that forms the structure of the chair was pioneered by the Eameses for use in the second World War, and became one of their design staples. The chair looks great, is unrivaled in terms of comfort. The design is attractive, understated, but radical all the same. Extremely impressive design.
Design Final Score: ELC (9/10) WC (9/10) A tie! Fie on both their houses!
We’ll settle this with Basis Design’s tried and true method for breaking design ties. Sophie’s choice. Imagine there is only one of each chair extant the world over, and both examples are arrayed before us. But, lo, they are suspended over a whirring pit of grinding knifes! We must choose only one! The other will be destroyed! Which one will we save!?
The Womb Chair.
