Research and findings

Design and Technology Ron Arad Ron Arad is an architect and is still practicing currently his production and design. He has also taken a keen interest in designing pieces of furniture of which some became very famous. His designs are mainly focused towards the post-industrial nature of designs. Although he started his career in the 1980s, he is still very active in the design industry and currently he has a new design named, ‘ curtain fall. 1’
His furniture is made of steel, carbon fiber and glass. The materials he chooses to use are of good quality and advantageous. The materials are waterproof in nature and come in different colors which make them more attractive. Some of his furniture is a re-work of initial ideas like the combination of a part of a chair and that of a steel material. He is a great designer and studied technology to the professor level in furniture design and industrial design2.
Ron Arad-The big easy chair
The big easy chair is a very famous piece of furniture that was designed and created by Ron Arad particularly for Moroso. This chair is made of a frame from steel material that has stress resistant foam made of polyurethane and also polyester fiber. Although this cover cannot be removed, the armchair has both the properties of a waterproof material and also resistant to light. This makes it easy to use the chair, as it is portable and can be used both outside and inside. It is a rotational chair that can be molded and recycled with colored polythene. The main advantages of this chair are that, it can be used for both outdoor and indoor activities. It is also essential to note that it is waterproof hence, resistant to fade3.
This is the model of the big easy chair
The chairs come in different colors that cannot fade due to the type of waterproof material
The Rover chair
This was the first piece of furniture chair that was produced by Ron Arad. This piece of furniture is a fusion of two ideas. The ideas came from readymade of Kee-Klamp scaffolding which was designed originally in the 1930s. The other part that clumps onto the Kee-Klump is the seat of scrap yard which came from a Rover 200. This chair is basically a combination of a car chair with a frame of structural tubing. The frames are what provide the arm and feet rest for the individual sitting on this chair. In 1981, this chair was sold almost at three times its production cost due to its attractive nature. The seat is made of leather while the frames painted in black made of steel material. 4
The rover chair can come in different colors too but maintains the black frame structure

Ray and Charles Eames
These two designers made it big in the early 1907 to 1978. They were modern architects and also designed furniture. They worked in the industrial and also graphic design including film and fine art. Charles worked in a steel company where he managed to learn drawing, engineering and architecture. The characteristics of the material he used for furniture include organic designs which were mainly meant for home furnishings. Among the works that he produced were molded woodwork techniques. He also ventured in plywood products, chairs stretchers for the U. S navy in the World War II and other types of furniture. 5
Ray Eames, Charles’ wife was also a designer and a film maker. She prepared drawing on the organic designs of home furnishings, which participated in a competition. She had an outstanding design skill and architecture.
Their works
Their architectures and furniture designs were molded from plywood. They also made use of fiberglass as well as plastic resin chairs. Part of the chairs that they designed for Herman Miller is the wire mesh type of chair. These two also ventured into photography and produced short films. Their furniture includes chairs that are made from organic material and plywood material. They also employed the use of aluminum and steel in their furniture. This can be evidenced from the Eames Lounge furniture which has the supporting sections made from steel. 6
Part of their works is the aluminum group of chairs, molded plywood which are the dining chair wood. They also designed buildings which include Sweetzer Houses, Dinsmoor House, Dean House and St. Mary’s Church. Their exhibition designs include ‘ textile ornamental Arts of India’ and ‘ Glimpses of the USA’. 7
Here is some of the furniture designed by the two
Eames Lounge
Eames House entry8
Comparison of the two artists
The two artists chosen compares in many ways. Ron Arad designs were mainly based on post-industrial nature of designs. Ron also is still seen to be active in the design industry unlike his counterparts who are no longer practicing in the design industry. Ron’s furniture was mainly made of steel, carbon fiber and glass. The materials made for his furniture are mainly waterproof owing to the nature of materials that have been used in designing them which are polyurethane and also polyester fiber. His furniture have the characteristic of being portable in nature while maintaining their colors since they are waterproof, hence no fading of colors takes place in his furniture.
Ray and Charles Eames have their furniture mainly made of organic materials. Their home furnishings mainly come from plywood materials. Ray and Charles Eames unlike Ron are not practicing currently their designing and architecture. They were industrial and graphic designers and also ventured into fine art and film. Therefore, they have a more varied nature of practicing design and architecture when compared to Ron. They had many works based on photography unlike Ron and designed many houses including their own house. Unlike Ron, they used fiberglass as well as plastic resin chairs for their furniture. They also used aluminum in some of their designs of furniture.
Molding is a great part of Ray and Charles Eames works due to the presence of the use of plywood. Ray and Charles made a great contribution towards the World War II from their designed stretchers that served the US navy in the war. Therefore, their works appear to be more diverse in nature when compared to Ron.
Similarities
Both of the chosen artists studied design. Ron studied furniture design and industrial design while undertaking technology classes while Ray and Charles studied architecture and furniture designs. They complement each other’s works. When the piece of furniture that they both produced is looked at keenly, some similarities emerge. Both of the chairs that they produce have similar characteristics. The best example that can be used is the Rover chair by Ron and the Eames lounge type of chair. Both of these chairs have a metal stand that supports the hands and the feet of the individual using them.
It is also important to recognize the fact that, both of the chairs have some steel as part of them. Their chairs can both be said to have the properties of being waterproof as per the materials that have been chosen for both instances. It is thus important to note that, these two chosen artists were both designers and professionalized in the technology.
Bibliography
Postell, James Christopher. 2012. Furniture design. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons.
Arad, Ron, Paola Antonelli, and Emily Hall. 2009. Ron Arad: no discipline. New York: Museum of Modern Art.
Eames, Charles, Ray Eames, and Donald Albrecht. 2005. The work of Charles and Ray Eames: a legacy of invention. New York: Harry N. Abrams.
Eames, Charles, Ray Eames, Sandra Dachs, Patricia de Muga, Laura García Hintze, and Mathias Remmele. 2007. Charles and Ray Eames. Barcelona: Ediciones Polígrafa.
Eames, Charles, Ray Eames, Martin Eidelberg, and Thomas Hine. 2006. The Eames lounge chair: an icon of modern design ; [published on the occasion of the Exhibition The Eames Lounge Chair: An Icon of Modern Design… Museum of Arts and Design, New York, May 18 – September 3, 2006, Grand Rapids Art Museum, Grand Rapids, Michigan October 6 – December 31, 2006, Henry Ford Museum, Dearborn, Michigan February 3 – April 29, 2007]. London [u. a.]: Merrell.