For the DSW (Dining Height Side Chair Wood Base), Charles and Ray Eames combined the organically shaped seat shell – made today by Vitra from post-consumer recycled plastic – with a four-legged wooden base.
The contrast between plastic and wood gives this classic design a warm, casual appeal. The seat shells can be completed with cushions or fully upholstered; the large selection of fabric colours allows for a multitude of individual configurations.
The search for alternative materials led Charles and Ray Eames to fibreglass-reinforced polyester resin, a material that until then had been used almost exclusively in military applications, such as radomes and aircraft cockpits. The Eameses studied and exploited to the full the advantages of fibreglass: mouldability, rigidity and good properties for industrial manufacturing. This material, previously unknown in the furniture industry, allowed them to create a moulded seat that could be mass-produced: the Fiberglass Chair was born.
Fibreglass offered the advantage of being pleasant to the touch and allowing a perfectly moulded shape for extraordinary comfort. The commercialisation of Fiberglass Chairs in 1950 marked the introduction of a furniture typology that has since become ubiquitous: the multifunctional chair whose shell can be combined with different bases depending on the use. In response to the enormous popularity of this chair, the choice of bases and colours soon expanded. Over the next decade, Fiberglass Chairs became one of the best-known furniture designs of the 20th century.