Looking Back to Look Forward: The Future Of Mobility Explored Through Design

Embedded in Eames’ answer, underlining his skewering of the question, is the notion of designing in a smart, conscious way. Design should be holistic, considering an object’s past, present, and future much in the way he and Ray Eames approached their ‘Case Study House 8’.

‘House 8’ evolved home design beyond three dimensions, considering mass produced items as a way around wartime shortages of materials while rethinking said materials through technology, leading to innovations like the repurposing pylon, a popular material used for airplanes at the time. Whether intentionally or not, this way of designing placed the environment central as the Eames sought to  create a house in conversation with the meadow surrounding, avoiding felling any trees and repositioning the house to best suit its surroundings. ‘House 8’ is a masterpiece not because of its versatility or aesthetics but because it championed a synergy that yielded a timelessness.