Curiosity, passion and playfulness

The travelling exhibition Eames Roadshow, which began at the Vitra Campus before touring various locations around the world, is on view at Mozaik Ortaköy from October 1 to 15, 2026. Inspired by Charles and Ray Eames’s home in Los Angeles, the exhibition sheds light on their approach to design through their iconic furniture, production processes, and relationship with everyday life. We spoke with Stine Liv Buur, Director of Design Classics at Vitra, about the Eameses’ collaborative practice, the contemporary relevance of their design legacy, and Vitra’s role in passing this legacy on to future generations

Interview: Berfin Küçükaçar

Stine Liv Buur, 2026. Photo: Tara Karaçizmeli (Pasaj Zivo)

Although Charles and Ray Eames’s work emerged from a particular moment in twentieth-century design history, it continues to be produced, used, and exhibited today. What do you see as the fundamental idea in Charles and Ray Eames’s approach to design that has allowed their work to resonate beyond its original historical context and remain relevant today?

First of all, the very simple, short answer is that they were problem solvers. They saw and identified needs in society. By identifying these needs, they designed a chair to solve that need. In that context, they were thinking in a totally new way, in a way no other designers had done before and became part of a generation of modern designers for whom identifying a need or problem came before defining the form. That means they created designs that broke the mould. All of their designs were the first of their kind, and I think that's why you still see them as so relevant today and, of course, so widely copied.

Today, the Eames name is largely associated with furniture design. Yet Charles and Ray Eames’s practice extended across architecture, film, photography, and exhibition design. Looking across these fields suggests a broader way of thinking about design, rather than a practice defined by individual objects. When we consider these different areas of their practice together, what kind of design philosophy becomes visible that we might miss if we looked at their furniture alone?

When we look across Charles and Ray Eames's work in architecture, exhibitions, film, furniture, and even the way they hosted people in their home, a remarkably consistent philosophy becomes visible: the idea of design as hospitality. They approached every project through the lens of the guest-host relationship. Whether designing a chair, creating an exhibition, making a film, or planning a dinner, their aim was to anticipate the needs, interests, and experience of the people on the receiving end.

Charles Eames famously described the designer as "a very good, thoughtful host, anticipating the needs of his guests." This principle extended far beyond furniture. A chair had to support and welcome its user; an exhibition had to engage visitors of different ages and levels of knowledge; a film had to communicate complex ideas with clarity and delight; and architecture had to make people feel comfortable, oriented, and cared for.

This perspective helps explain why the Eameses moved so fluidly between disciplines. They were never primarily interested in objects as isolated forms. Instead, they focused on the experience created around them. In their exhibitions, for example, information should be accessible enough for a child to understand while still offering depth for the most knowledgeable visitor. The same generosity can be found in their furniture and architecture, where usability, comfort, and delight are carefully balanced.

If we looked only at the furniture, we might conclude that their legacy lies in creating iconic forms. Looking across their entire practice reveals something broader: a human-centered design philosophy grounded in empathy, curiosity, and hospitality. The objects, films, exhibitions, and buildings were different outputs, but they all served the same purpose: creating meaningful experiences for people.

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Left: Lounge Chair and Ottoman, Designed in 1956; Right: Eames Plastic RAR Sandalye, Designed in 1950

Designs such as the Plywood Group, Shell Chairs, Aluminium Group, and Lounge Chair have become some of the most recognisable works associated with the Eames name. Yet this level of recognition can also shift attention away from the extensive processes of research, prototyping, and iteration behind the finished objects. When a design becomes an icon, the object itself can begin to overshadow the thinking behind it. Why is it important to present Eames designs in relation to the research and production processes that shaped them, rather than simply as iconic objects?

You are right in that observation. When a design has been seen and used for decades, becomes widely recognized, and eventually attains the status of an icon, people tend to focus on the object itself and forget the story behind it. Yet Charles and Ray Eames did not become significant because they created iconic forms. They broke the mould by defining new furniture typologies and developing innovative solutions to real problems, whether related to comfort, production, materials, affordability, or use. Because these designs remain relevant today, it is important that we continue to educate new generations about the ideas and processes behind them. Good design is never an empty shape. At its best, design solves a problem, and when that solution is executed with intelligence and beauty, it also becomes a joy to experience and to look at.

For me, working for Vitra and presenting Charles and Ray Eames, it's not about the chair; it's about why this chair is here and what the background is. This chair tells so many stories, and that is the whole design development of the chair. It's not the final look; it's what came before. For them, the shape came at the very far end. It was first about solving the problem.

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Left: Eames Stools, Designed in 1960; Right: La Chaise, Designed in 1948

Charles came from a background in architecture and Ray from painting, yet their respective contributions cannot easily be separated within the Eames practice. Their creative approaches became deeply intertwined through the way they worked together. Today, “Eames” is often perceived almost as a singular design signature. How do you understand the way Charles and Ray, as two distinct creative individuals, developed such a coherent shared design language?

They did work as a group; they were united. Many people ask what Charles's responsibility was and what Ray's responsibility was. You should never try to divide them by saying, "This is Charles and this is Ray." They worked together and could communicate with each other in a very unique way that nobody else would understand.

Ray had a very good feeling for colour because she was a painter. Charles had a very good feeling for technology and materials and for putting things together. But towards the end, these things had to unite. Ray also had a very good feeling for shapes and composition. Charles was an architect, so he also had a feeling for composition. Together, it melded. Neither of them would have been able to do this alone. I would always define them as one unit.

Are there any designs that they worked on separately, perhaps at the beginning of their careers? 

I showed the wooden Stool, originally designed by Ray Eames as furnishings for three lobbies in New York City's Rockefeller Center. Crafted from solid turned wood, it is actually attributed to Ray rather than Charles and Ray together, although it emerged from the Eames Office. Charles and Ray were always very honest about authorship and giving credit where it was due, and they openly acknowledged this as Ray's project and design. It is one of the few examples that can be clearly attributed to one of them individually. Another example is the 1948 organic shaped La Chaise, this is also attributed to Ray.

Eames Roadshow, Exhibition view, 2026, Mozaik Ortaköy

The exhibition concept of the Eames Roadshow draws on the colourful, layered, and highly personal interiors of the Eames House in Los Angeles, while its modular structure allows it to adapt to different spaces. In that sense, what travels is not only a group of design objects, but also something of the culture of living and thinking in which those objects existed. When translating the world of a deeply personal and lived-in space such as the Eames House into a travelling exhibition, what did you want to preserve? And how does adapting the Roadshow to different cities and spaces, including Istanbul, transform that narrative?

I think the Eames Roadshow is an allusion to the Eames House, but in a very simplified way. The House has these structural frames, with square spaces across the façade and interior, and we wanted to draw on that simple structure to create different environments or zones: a living room, an outdoor area, a home office and a dining area.

At the same time, the Roadshow has an educational dimension. For example, there is an exploded version of the Aluminium Group that allows visitors to look behind the object and understand how it actually works and fits together. We started with the Eames House, which still exists today, took certain elements apart and put them together again in a different way. This allows us to communicate not only the furniture itself, but also the ideas behind it.

The domestic character of the Eames House is important in this respect. Although there is also an office element, the Roadshow primarily creates the feeling of a home, allowing visitors to imagine the furniture within their own living spaces. The Eames House becomes a base that can be taken apart, translated into the Roadshow and reassembled in another context.

At the same time, the structure needs to remain adaptable. When our partners install the Roadshow in Istanbul or elsewhere, they should have the possibility of bringing something of their own identity to it. The structure and the furniture remain, of course, but other elements can respond to the place: a mosaic, different carpets, local flowers or rocks, exotic plants, depending on where you are. There should always be some local touch.

I think this also connects very closely to Charles and Ray Eames themselves, because they had a great interest in and passion for international cultures. They travelled extensively and had enormous respect for different cultures. Even our chairs can vary because they respond to local needs and technologies. You cannot go out into the world expecting everything to be the same everywhere. You have to adapt and respect the local culture. It is ultimately about mutual respect, understanding and empathy. Those may sound like very large words, but they are also part of the idea behind a Roadshow like this.

So, when we talk about the narrative of the Roadshow, of course we are telling the Eames story, but we are not saying that it has to be told in only one way. You have to make it your own story. Mozaik has to make it their story, just as, if you bring an Eames chair into your home, you have to make it your story.

What kind of comments did you get from viewers? I'm also wondering whether design students became interested in the project.

What is interesting about Charles and Ray Eames, but also some of our other designers, is the educational dimension of their approach to design. That is something I particularly value when giving talks to students. Established architects and designers may discover something new or be reminded of something they already know, but with younger students, architects and designers, the impact can be quite different.

In today's design world, with so much competition and so many designers, you need to find your own position. Charles and Ray's approach can be extremely inspiring in that process. When I speak to younger designers and architects, there are often these moments of realisation: "Maybe I should think about it in another way." I find those moments particularly fruitful, because they show how an approach developed decades ago can still encourage a different way of thinking about design today.

The Eames legacy today involves not only preserving Charles and Ray’s designs, but also introducing their approach to new audiences. The Roadshow itself can be understood as part of this process. When thinking about passing the Eames legacy on to future generations, what do you see as the central challenge? Beyond preserving the designs themselves, how can Charles and Ray’s way of approaching and thinking about design continue to live on?

Through education and interaction with universities, architecture, design and art schools. Especially in Europe, we already have many collaborations with these institutions. I also travel around the world giving talks about Charles and Ray Eames. These direct encounters are an important part of how we reach people, particularly younger generations of designers and artists.

But there are many other channels as well. Vitra is a company, but we also have the Vitra Design Museum. We have people with extensive knowledge of design history, and we share that knowledge in different ways. In close collaboration with the Eames Office, which is managed by the Eames family, we publish books, organise exhibitions and make information about the designs available through our website and other forms of online communication. All these different platforms allow us to carry this knowledge forward and make it accessible to the next generation.

The Roadshow is another part of that. It is a massive project. Of course, it also has a commercial dimension. We are a company and, yes, we would like to sell furniture.

But that commercial dimension is also part of sustaining these cultural and educational activities, right?

Exactly. If you don't sell the furniture, how can you fund the museum? It all hangs together. For us, it's very important to maintain a strong educational and cultural standpoint in the market, and we never compromise on that.

That's also why I travel around. Today, I'm not here as a salesperson. You haven't seen a single image in my presentation where I tell you that you can buy a chair in one colour or another. That's not my job. I'm here to explain what is behind that chair and the story behind it. Then you can decide whether to buy it or not, or whether to write a story about it or not. My role here is about education.

That's also why I personally work for Vitra. I value the balance between these two sides: carrying the legacy into the next generation and educating people while being part of a commercial company.

Charles and Ray Eames

Most of the articles I read before coming here describe Charles and Ray Eames's design process as a playground. Yet, as you said, they were problem solvers. But they were also very playful. How did these two aspects of their practice work together, and do you see reflections of that playfulness in design today?

They stayed curious and loved to play. They believed there was a great deal to learn from toys and collected many of them, including ships and trains. What fascinated them was the way toys could reflect real life in unexpected and humorous ways. By maintaining that kind of curiosity, much like a child encountering an artwork, they believed you could remain open to learning.

You can see that attitude even in this photograph. They are lying underneath the bases they made for the Wire Group, almost like two insects. You only see the base, not the top of the chair. It is an entertaining and humorous way of explaining a new design, and it makes people smile. It also embodies the quote, "Take your pleasure seriously." That combination of curiosity, passion and playfulness remained central to the way they worked.

You can also see it in their films. They made films about toys, trains, boats and kites, including how to make a kite and get it to fly. Something as playful as a kite can teach you about how it is carried by the wind. In that sense, they tried to retain as much of a child's innocence and open-mindedness as possible. That openness allowed them to keep learning and, potentially, to discover new ways of doing things.