Image credit: Salva López, courtesy of Kettal
The Eames Office and furniture creator Kettal have collaborated on a modular building system that is inspired by the work of Charles and Ray Eames. Set to be unveiled through an exhibition at Milan Design Week 2026, the project translates the Eameses’ mid-20th-century residential experiments into a contemporary prefabricated construction system.
Image credit: Salva López, courtesy of Kettal
Image credit: Salva López, courtesy of Kettal
Drawing on projects from the 1940s and 1950s, including Case Study House No. 8 and Case Study House No. 9, the system is conceived as a modular framework adaptable to a range of uses and contexts. Archival study of both built and unbuilt projects informed the system’s design, which condenses recurring principles in the Eameses’ work, such as rational structural grids, compact footprints paired with generous internal volumes, and an emphasis on flexibility over fixed form.
Image credit: Salva López, courtesy of Kettal
Image credit: Salva López, courtesy of Kettal
The system consists of repeatable modules that can be configured into structures ranging from 160-square-foot pavilions to two-story residential buildings. Materials include aluminum, glass, polycarbonate, and wood, with components manufactured through industrial processes and assembled at Kettal’s facilities in Barcelona. The system is designed for global distribution to overcome challenges with localized production and logistics.
Image credit: Salva López, courtesy of Kettal
Image credit: Salva López, courtesy of Kettal
Running from April 21 to May 10, the Eames Houses exhibition presents full-scale pavilion installations alongside archival drawings, films, and models, including previously unseen material from the Eames Office archive. The exhibition is accompanied by a publication of the same name by Phaidon, described as the first comprehensive sourcebook dedicated to the Eameses’ residential architecture.
Image credit: Salva López, courtesy of Kettal
Image credit: Salva López, courtesy of Kettal
“In the almost 40 years I have been Director of the Eames Office, I have been asked time and again whether it is possible to purchase a reproduction of the Eames House,” said Eames Demetrios, director of the Eames Office and grandson of Charles and Ray Eames. “One-to-one replicas can be interesting, yet we were always holding out for something else – a true systems approach that was also international in its solution.”
Image credit: Salva López, courtesy of Kettal
Image credit: Salva López, courtesy of Kettal
“The new system advances prefabricated Eames buildings from prototype to product,” Demetrios added. “Not a facsimile or collector’s edition, but a fully engineered architectural ecosystem. The Eames houses – many of them unbuilt – were always milestones and prototypes for such evolution. Our grandparents’ writings clearly show that even when designed for a specific site, the intent was series production of human habitation.”
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