Opinions differ on what are the concrete signs that you have finally grown up and become a real life, responsibility-wielding adult. Marriage, mortgages and children seem to be the tired old classics thrown around like gospel, but the truth is that growing up is all about… furniture.
It’s true, when you start taking an interest in the collection of furniture in your home – rented or otherwise – you know you’re a grownup and no piece is as important as the humble chair. Growing up doesn’t necessarily have anything to with wisdom or age or status; it has to do with sitting. Sitting in your own chair that you bought, and chose, and love.
Which brings us to the Barbican's new exhibition, The World of Charles and Ray Eames. A husband and wife team, they transitioned between photography, film, architecture and product design but they were arguably most famous for their furniture, with their - often-copied, never bettered - pieces still influencing designers well into the 21st century. Designed in 1956, the Eames lounge chair pictured above is, in fact, still in production today.
The exhibition runs from 21 October 2015 -14 February 2016 so go get inspired, go buy a chair and grow up.
