Eames Demetrios – the world-renowned multimedia and exhibition designer, lecturer, filmmaker and author – is set to deliver the keynote address at the Vancouver Island Design Exchange, taking place March 23 at Victoria’s Hotel Grand Pacific. The Vancouver Island Design Exchange annually aims to promote greater awareness of design while fostering idea-sharing between the various design disciplines.
Grandson of Charles and Ray Eames, the design duo that epitomized the mid-century modern period, Eames Demetrios is best known in the design world for his work as director of the Eames Office and his spearheading of the successful rediscovery of the Charles and Ray Eames design heritage. Among his many achievements in this capacity is the multimedia component of the Library of Congress/Vitra Design Museum Eames exhibition, the CD-ROM Powers of Ten, the reintroduction of many Eames furniture pieces and the release and video restoration of the Eames films.
Demetrios was instrumental in the creation of the Eames Foundation, charged with preserving the Eames House, and currently sits as chairman. His recently completed book, An Eames Primer, provided the first documentation of his grandparents’ design process. Today, he works closely with Vitra and Herman Miller to ensure that Eames furniture is always authentic by production. His work also includes the large-scale multimedia project, Kymaerxthaere, an ongoing work which has been underway for several years.
“Eames Demetrios is an international design icon, not only as the keeper the Charles and Ray Eames design legacy, but also as the creator of his own distinctive design vision. The impact of the name Eames on today’s design landscape is immeasurable,” says Georgi-Anna Sizeland of Sizeland Inc. Interior Design Studio and IDIBC Vancouver Island chapter president. “We are so honoured and delighted to welcome him as keynote speaker for the Vancouver Island Design Exchange and look forward to the unique insight he will bring to the event.”
Demetrios’ lectures have taken him around the world, from Washington’s Library of Congress to Portugal’s Gulbenkian Foundation, from the California Academy of Sciences to the 2007 TED Conference as a Main Stage Speaker. The Vancouver Island Design Exchange will also feature seminars led by Benjamin Moore’s colour expert Kimberley Pfeifer and 3form’s Meagan Cousins.
