347: CHARLES AND RAY EAMES, ESU 270-N < Design, 27 February 2025 < Auctions

Eames ‘ESU’ and ‘EDU’ for Herman Miller

Reshaping the Modern Home and Office with Iconic Design

In 1949, Charles and Ray Eames designed a novel range of store units and desks for Herman Miller: the Eames Storage Unit (ESU) and Eames Desk Unit (EDU). These lines drew on the foundations of industrial production, in which lightweight materials and components were integrated into the construction of adaptable forms. At the same time, the Eameses were working on their groundbreaking Eames House, or Case Study House No. 8, in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, which would become their primary residence and studio. Whether designing furniture or architecture, the Eameses endeavored to discover practical yet delightful solutions to meet the demands of modern living.

Eames Case Study House No. 8, Los Angeles, CA, designed in 1949 (Photo courtesy of the Eames Foundation)

The ESU and EDU were initially available on a commercial basis in 1950. These Eames designs were intended to be low-cost, modular interior elements that could fit equally well in the home or office. Each shelving section of an ESU or EDU could be configured with an open or closed front, using wire-cross struts, drawers, or sliding plywood panels with natural finish or laminated colors. The ESUs were also released in different heights, with the 100 series one level high, the 200 series two levels high, and the 400 series four levels high.

Some of the possible aesthetic and formal influences for the Eames ESU and EDU are Dutch artist Piet Mondrian’s geometric emphasis and stark palette, toy train maker Frank Hornby’s Meccano kit, Alfred Carlton Gilbert’s Erector set, and even traditional Japanese design. Yet the Eameses created something wholly new with their line of ESUs and EDUs. While both were relatively well-received by the buying public, and Herman Miller continued making plywood furniture in the decades that followed, the first run of the ESU and EDU lasted only from 1950 to 1955. Given the broad resurgence of interest in mid-century modern design toward the end of the 20th century, Herman Miller began to reintroduce certain models in 1998.