The Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman is an undeniable status symbol in architecture and entertainment circles, but Michael Ford, Assoc. AIA, wants to take it to a whole new meaning. The iconic two-piece set, created in 1956 by the venerated design duo Ray and Charles Eames, has long carried its original tagline as a “special refuge from the strains of modern living.” Considering the country's history of systemic racism, which manifests itself in nearly every measurable data point, Ford wanted to know, “Where is that 'refuge' from the strains of 'modern living' for Black Americans? What does that 'refuge' mean for Black boys and girls today?”
As a result, the Madison, Wis.–based social justice activist and founder of the Hip Hop Architecture Camp is flipping the narrative of the beloved furniture piece. In a collaboration with Herman Miller—one of two authorized manufacturers of Eames products—Ford has remixed a classic Eames Lounge Chair into a bespoke centerpiece for a newly launched campaign. Titled "Conversations for Change," the fundraising campaign aims to raise awareness about the "systemic racism and racial inequities faced by Black and Brown people" every day, according to a joint press release issued by HHAC, Herman Miller, and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Dane County, in Wisconsin.
The National Tour
On Jan. 18, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the Mike Ford Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman (ELO) will embark on a national tour to places of significance in the history of social and racial justice. The chair will start in Detroit before heading across the country, with stops that currently include Washington, D.C., Atlanta, and Los Angeles. Ford will remotely conduct Instagram Live interviews (via @hermanmiller as well as Ford's @thehiphoparchitect account) with activists, artists, actors, and design professionals local to each city as they sit in the landmark chair. Conversation topics will include racial disparities in the guests' respective industries, experiences with injustice, and "steps to encourage positive change," according to the press release.
The current guest roster includes Detroit vs Everybody founder Tommey Walker; Tuskegee Airmen Detroit Chapter vice president Gwen McNeal; Chicago-based artist and radio personality Ed Lover; and jazz musician Keyon Harrold, whose 14-year-old son was falsely accused of stealing an iPhone in a confrontation that Harrold was able to partly capture in a now-viral video.
Online audiences can join the live conversations and donate to the campaign. A $200 donation will cover the enrollment of one student in a weeklong session of the HHAC, while a $500 donation will cover a week's pay for a student intern in the design industry.
After the chair ends its tour in February in Wisconsin, where Ford resides, it will change hands for perhaps the final time. Anyone U.S.–based donor giving $1,000 or more to the campaign by the end of February will be eligible to win the chair; they must also submit a statement “on why they are ‘taking a stand,” according to the campaign website. A supporter can submit a different statement for every $1,000 donated. The chair will be awarded to the donor with the best statement, as determined by panel of reviewers, on March 12. BGCDC and the Hip Hop Architecture Camp, which Ford founded in 2016 to introduce underserved middle- and high-school students to design and planning, will apply the funds raised toward their respective missions. The group will also create a grant to support grassroots organizations that provide "places of refuge," according to the press release.