FSW-8 (Folding Screen Wood)

The popularity of ranch-style and open-plan houses in the post-World War II period led to a renewed interest in freestanding screens. Ray and Charles Eames produced a screen that was ideally suited to modern taste and that had little formal relationship to the screens used in late nineteenth-century homes. Their design, the Folding Screen Wood, consisted of a series of panels of bent plywood linked by canvas webbing. The sections could move forward or backward, allowing the screen to take on an infinite variety of shapes. The undulating lines echoed contemporary sculpture and freeform design. This example was originally used in a student space at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Geography: Made in Zeeland, Michigan, designed in Los Angeles, California

Culture: American

Period: 20th century

Credit: Gift of Randall Garrett, B.A. 1972, M.A. 1975