Joy in Design - Eames Collection at the Pyramid, SF (Oct 2025)
The Eames curved wooden chair is one of the defining pieces of the Eames furniture exhibit currently at the ground floor of the Transamerica Pyramid, which made for a delightful 15 minutes of my day in Downtown San Francisco.
The guards were cordial enough to snap a photo of me upon my request, and they were a wealth of knowledge. (You can never go more than a few steps at Shvo’s Pyramid without service! Or security!) They introduced me to the material known as naugahyde, and knew that the architectural bookstore on Montgomery Street is run by the Eames Foundation.
The exhibit space, blessed with stunning architectural bones, has been personalized with colored vinyl applied to select windows. The design effect is two-fold. First, a golden glow is created with the light passing through, filtered by the redwood grove, and the gallery lighting is divine. Second, their jewel tones are reflected on the polished concrete floor for a real pop of color, which makes the colors of the chairs all-the-more impressive... rich, shiny, timeless, joyful...
I reached out to touch them, and was scolded, politely but with urgency.
Me: “You know these are commercial-grade, right?”
The Eames exhibit is a reminder of the basics of design: firmitas, utilitas, venustas. While Eames furniture emanates these values (integrity, functionality and aesthetic appeal); it is the joyfulness of the aesthetics that struck me with this Eames exhibit.
Joy is essential in design - whether furniture, buildings or urbanism, unless you want your towns to be filled with fascist architecture. I'll bet this furniture feels good too.
(Oct 2025)