Charles and Ray Eames are pioneers at Vitra when it comes to children's furniture. Their conceptions demonstrate that designs for children need not necessarily draw their inspiration from fairytale or comic motifs, but that functionality can absolutely also be foremost here – even when it isn't meant to be.
Vitra has for many years manufactured the Children's Chair with Stool and the Hang it all wardrobe by Charles and Ray Eames. The anniversary edition of the Plywood Elephant – designed in 1945 – has joined these, and is now also produced in a plastic version, the Eames Elephant, due to its widespread popularity.
George Nelson's Zoo Timers deserve a rightful place in accessories – as well as in children's furniture. As do Alexander Girard's Wooden Dolls, which similarly remove the delineation between young and older.
Even Verner Panton has contributed to the growing Vitra Children's Collection with his legendary Panton Chair. Available since 2006, the Panton Junior is not only the latest but also the smallest in the cantilever chair family. It has been complemented since 2007 by the Porcupine Desk, a children's desk designed by Hella Jongerius.
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Porcupine Desk
Hella Jongerius, 2007
Hella Jongerius and Vitra tackled the question of how a table, that would complement the Panton Junior children's chair, might look.
The answer is entitled Porcupine Desk.
At first glance, Porcupine Desk seems to be the antithesis of the Panton Junior: instead of elegant curves, Jongerius designed a square-edged, rectangular shape; instead of plastic she used wood, and instead of bright colours she opted for a decorative illustration to win over children's hearts for the table. In spite of, or perhaps because of these opposites, the chair and table complement one another well, since both possess their own unmistakable character. For the Porcupine Desk this is based on the asymmetry of the design, brought about by the one-sided extension and widening of the original square tabletop and by the inclination of two legs. An open shelf - for books, pads, pens or toys - and a drawer on the opposing side, are situated below the extended tabletop, which, like the outwardly inclined legs, are set off from the rest of the design by virtue of their different colour.
A further characteristic feature of the Porcupine Desk is the printed playful, but not necessarily childish, motif of a bracelet with decorative objects like a Panton Chair and Eames Elephant. Some of the chain links are formed by punched-out holes in the tabletop in which the supplied drawing markers, for example, can be inserted.
Naturally the Porcupine Desk has the GS and CE safety certificates which are customary for toys.
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Eames Elephant
Charles and Ray Eames, 1953
In 1945, Charles and Ray Eames designed the legendary Plywood Elephant. The design was intricate to manufacture and only two prototypes were ever made; these were displayed immediately after their production in an exhibition by the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Today, only one Plywood Elephant is known to be in the possession of the Eames family.
Charles and Ray Eames were fascinated by elephants: this likeable animal is depicted in many of their photographic works on the culture of India and the world of circuses. The Plywood Elephant was intended to be played with by children, as exemplified by its friendly curvaceous lines and its intense expression.
In 2007, Vitra launched a limited edition of the Plywood Elephant on the occasion of the 100th birthday of Charles Eames. The response was enthusiastic and the 2000 copies of the 1945 design – which never before had been series-produced – were sold out immediately.
The majority of purchasers would certainly not have acquired the Plywood Elephant as a toy, but as a collector's item. This made sense in view of the limited edition, but was also regrettable, since Charles & Ray Eames had designed the elephant as a toy.
In the light of this, Vitra took the decision to develop also a version that would be affordable as a child's toy: the Eames Elephant made of plastic. The change of material also accorded with one of the designers’ principal mottos: "The most of the best to the greatest number of people for the least."
Then unknown as a material in the furniture industry, Charles and Ray Eames were the first designers to use plastic in 1950 to facilitate the cost-effective production of seats for their designs. Like the current plastic seats of the Eames Plastic Chairs, the Eames Elephant is manufactured of polypropylene. It is available in five colours: red, ice-grey, white, dark lime and light pink.
The Eames Elephant has the GS and CE safety certificates, which are customary for toys.
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Elephant Stool
Sori Yanagi, 1954
The three-legged Elephant Stool is one of the best known post-war Japanese designs and is as convincing as ever with its softly rounded contours. The stackable Elephant Stool is as robust as its name suggests, and is suitable both for indoor areas and for the balcony and garden. To accommodate children, the stool is extremely stable and children carry it around easily. Sori Yanagi’s Elephant Stool has become the reliable companion on which the child can climb to discover the world of adults.
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Panton Chair Junior
Verner Panton, 1959/60
Because of its bright, cheerful colours and smooth curves, the Panton Chair has always been a favourite among children – both as something to sit on and something to play with. Verner Panton himself therefore began, at an early stage, to consider the idea of producing a child-size version of the chair together with Vitra. This project, which failed for financial reasons 40 years ago, could now be realised: the Panton Junior was based on the original plans of Panton. Unchanged in terms of material and proportions, it is approximately a quarter of the size of the regular model. The robust, durable chair, available in seven specially selected colours, is the ideal chair for children in pre-school and primary grades.
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Zoo Timers
George Nelson, 1965
A truly multi-talented designer, George Nelson was also successful as a graphic designer. His Zoo timers – highly colourful personalities from the animal kingdom – contrast sharply in terms of their graphic design with his sculptural wall clocks which he designed in large quantities in the 1950’s. The Zoo Timers offer children a playful and enjoyable approach to telling the time. You can choose from Fernando the Fish, Omar the Owl, Talulah the Toucan or Elihu the Elephant.
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Children's Chair & Stool
Charles & Ray Eames, 1945
Among the designs by Charles and Ray Eames for children, the children’s chair and stool, developed in 1945, are of particular importance in the history of design. These were the first series of furniture in which Eames were able to convert their basic experiences with three-dimensionally shaped plywood. The children’s chair & stool were originally only produced in small volumes. The chair with its hole, punched out of the backrest in a heart shape, which is used both as a handle and for decoration, is a particular favourite.
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Hang it all
Charles & Ray Eames, 1953
Hang it all is far more than a coatrack for kids. The cheerful bright-coloured wall object with the characteristic coloured wooden balls has sculptural qualities and is suitable for every- thing that can be hung up: clothing, rucksacks, roller skates and toys. Different- shaped hooks are welded to a rectangular wire frame painted white and screwed to the wall. A shiny wooden ball is mounted on the tips of the hooks. Hang it all was designed to be the right size to fit the back of a door. The regular arrangement of the hooks also enables the Hang it alls to be strung out to any length.
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Box
Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec, 2004
Box is a multifunctional storage unit that doubles up as a side table. Its sympathetic soft-edge aesthetics, deliberately avoid any echo of angular freestanding cabinets. The softly rounded carcass of the Box, which tapers slightly downwards, consists of a polyurethane hard foam, and is clad on the inside and outside with a fine woven fabric. For children Box therefore becomes a contemporary treasure box in whose soft casing just about everything can be stowed away. Thanks to its simple cable management the child’s own first radio or computer can be placed very easily on Box.
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Uten.Silo
Dorothee Becker, 1969
The Uten.Silo is one of the best-known plastic-based designs of the late 1960’s. Since then it has helped create order in offices, kitchens, bathrooms and children’s rooms with its metal hooks, clamps and containers. The combination of logical layout and playful variety make the Uten.Silo the ideal object with which children are able to sort all their things – whether next to the children’s writing desk or in the play corner.
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Algue
Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec, 2004
Algues are at the same time interior design components and decorative elements with which the Bouroullec brothers once again demonstrate their unconventional and innovative design understanding. Plastic elements reminiscent of plants, filigree, flexible and yet having considerable strength. Algues appeal to the user’s own creativity, and although they consti- tute a standardised, industrially produced module, they still provide space for individual solutions. The plastic parts can be linked together intuitively and playfully to form web- like structures – from the light curtain to opaque, thick room dividers or hollow structures.
