An Affordable Eames House For Everyone?
What if you could have a Charles and Ray Eames designed home that costs less than a traditional house?
Well, soon you will be able to.
Eames Office, and Spanish manufacturer Kettal have just announced the Eames Pavilion system, it’s a modular building kit of parts that can be used for projects like a backyard office, all the way up to a fully equipped two story house.
Out of all of Charles and Ray Eames’ designs, one of their most well-known has always been their own home, which was developed as part of a program with Arts and Architecture magazine called the Case Study House program.
The Eames House, or Case Study House No. 8, was a clear success - Charles and Ray moved into it in 1949, and lived there for the rest of their lives. It’s been a sort of mecca for architects and fans of modernism for over 75 years.
But this home was never meant to be a one-off - it was always intended as a system, a set of principles for building. Two years after the Eames House was built, the Eames designed a low-cost, prefab home called the Eames Modular House, but it never made it to production.
So the Eames Pavilion System is both a revival of the Eameses unrealized vision for prefab housing, and also a continuation of their principles, adapted for contemporary materials, manufacturing, and use.
So, who is going to buy this?
I think it’s important to note that this is not being positioned as an affordable housing solution (pricing here if I can find it?) or (Pricing looks to range from $260-$325 per square foot) - there are definitely more affordable modular systems out there. So price may be a barrier for some people, but if you’re design-minded and building a new home, this system will likely cost less than a lot of custom, architect-designed builds.
I also think the timing is kind of ideal. If we’ve learned anything from tiny home living, the van life craze, and the growing number of prefab home manufacturers in the past 20 years, it is that people are willing to reimagine what home looks like - and that might be just what’s needed to make this system a success.
My next question is: would you live in an Eames home?