1. A quick tour inside the Ray Eames exhibit at the California Museum in Sacramento via Esoteric Survey.

2. Le Prado, a warm, welcoming home near the beaches of Marseilles, France, spotted by Design Milk.

3. More from Marseilles, this time from Contemporist: the simple and elegant Vieux Port Pavilion by Foster + Partners.

4. Co.Design’s peek inside a new book on Irving Harper, who designed Herman Miller’s logo and contributed to the design of George Nelson’s Marshmallow Sofa.

5. A surprising house design by Aires Mateus in Leiria, Portugal, found at I Need a Guide.

6. The Makoko Floating School project by NLÉ architects at designboom.

7. Remodelista’s roundup of “smart and skinny” houses in Japan.

8. Great shots by photographer Alan Wanzenberg at Plastolux. (We’re fans of the nicely lit image of a pair of Eames Walnut Stools.)

9. This chat with David Calvin Laufer, who presents interviews with George Nelson, Charles and Ray Eames, and Buckminster Fuller, among others, in his book Dialogues with Creative Legends and Aha Moments in a Designer’s Career (via Peachpit).

10. The renovated LeRoy Neiman Center at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Be sure to check out its interesting combo of Eames designs and colorful Caper chairs. (Via Retail Design Blog.)

Featured in photo: Eames Molded Plastic Chair; Eames Aluminum Group Management Chair; Nelson X-Leg Table

My father had a stern exterior, but his baby sister Ray could melt him in seconds flat. She adored her brother. He was a career military man, so our family would be stationed in different places as I was growing up. Ray would visit us — like a fairy godmother, she’d pop up in places with off-the-wall presents and smiles. I’ll never forget when my father was stationed at Norway. Ray came in on one of the first SAS [Scandinavian Airlines] over-the-Pole flights. And when she arrived she said, almost with some surprise, “I expected to look down and see the candy-striped pole on the North Pole!” Of course she did! She just said it in that “Ray way” that made it magic. She was full of magical moments like that.

My aunt was such an artist; everything she did, she did perfectly. When we stayed at the house, we’d have breakfasts that were almost too pretty to eat. Every dish, every place mat, every napkin, the flowers on the table and on the sideboard, a bowl of fruit… everything had to be not only beautiful to taste, but beautiful to see. And the breakfast table was a work of art in itself — the way she arranged it differently every day, using different plates, different flowers, and different cups. All with love. You’d feel enveloped with love in her house.

Ray had an enormous spirit of fun. Work and fun were the things she had in common with Charles — they were the same thing to them. They embodied the philosophy of doing what you love and loving what you do. They loved their toys, and they loved the fanciful. (Where else could you get the Hang-It-All?) And Ray was intensely curious. When I was in seventh and eighth grade and my father was stationed in California, I was in a state band and individual instrumental competition. I played the clarinet and had a solo. Afterward, my friend Margaret Ann, who had accompanied me on the piano and who also played glockenspiel, came out with us to Ray and Charles’ house. Ray was so fascinated by someone who played the glockenspiel. (“Oh! Glockenspiel!” she’d say.) And she would go on and on asking Margaret about what it was like — questions about where it came from and how she got started in it. She had such a childlike curiosity about everything.

Ray, in her way, was a different kind of Renaissance woman — so much a woman, and yet, operating in a man’s world in an enormously successful way. She was very demanding in what she wanted and how the vision should be presented. She made no bones about it. So, in her, you had this combination of a brilliant, detail-oriented artist with a wonderful, fanciful, and intense curiosity about everything in the world — every piece of it. She had a way of educating you and learning at the same time. I still miss her effervescence and the extreme attention, love, and care she showed when she was with you. What I miss most is her joyous presence… and sharing it. I miss her.

Beginning February 23, 2013, the California Museum in Sacramento will present “Ray Eames: A Century of Modern Design,” an exhibit revealing “a new perspective on Ray’s 60-year career in the arts, along with her influence on American culture and significance in history as one of the 20th century’s most influential artists.” Find details at californiamuseum.org.

Last spring, while the original contents of Charles and Ray Eameses’ living room were on display at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Herman Miller Collection team had the rare opportunity to hold a photo shoot in the husband-and-wife team’s landmark home. The capper? They were also invited to explore Ray’s extensive, well-curated personal collection of objects to use as props. In celebration of Ray’s upcoming 100th birthday, we asked Jennie Maneri, Art Director, Collection and Retail, to walk us through a few of the shots and explain how the details Ray was know for helped bring the Collection to life.

“We knew going into the project that many of the photos would draw from Charles and Ray’s own photos — not shot for shot, but as inspiration. This image [above] is a re-imagining of a picture they’d taken [below] using all the same furniture pieces in the same location, except their lounge and ottoman had black leather and the old Rosewood shell. We wanted to do the updated version in white ash and pearl MCL leather. We included one of Ray’s baskets and her jade plant, which we brought in from the outside. This photo really moved me, as I felt that it was the shot that shows what the Collection is all about: a lived-in quality, a feeling of warmth, beautiful architecture, timeless design.” Pictured above: Eames Lounge and Ottoman, White Ash and Eames Sofa Compact

“We, of course, wanted to shoot the Ray-inspired Select Eames LTR in the home. The bowls on the tables are hers, as is the unique cat sculpture sitting on top of the grouped tables.” Pictured above: Select Eames Wire Base Low Tables and Eames Molded Plywood Chairs

“The inspiration for this shot was ‘Ray getting ready for a party.’ We used her china, her champagne glasses, and some amazing gold flatware. We even went into her garden and picked Aster flowers for her bud jar.” Pictured above: Eames Table and Eames Molded Plywood Dining Chairs

“We shot this photo in the Eames Studio, which is adjacent to the house. The whale sculpture was hers. According to old photos, it was once hanging in the house. It had also been in the original Herman Miller showroom in Los Angeles, which Ray and Charles had designed and styled. We found Ray’s rug folded into a tiny cube within a big stack of textiles. We didn’t even know it was a rug until we opened it up. There were a lot of wonderful surprises like that throughout the day of the shoot.” Pictured above: Eames Molded Plastic Armchair and Eames Storage Unit

“This shot is not in the Collection catalog, but everything here is Ray’s: the plants, the decorative sculptures, the saucers (which were almost like little dessert bowls on pedestals). And then there are pieces from her collections of bowls and salt-and-pepper shakers. . . . There was so much to choose from. Ray didn’t just have one salt bowl; she’d have 40 salt bowls, all different. She’d have 50 different candlesticks and all kinds of plates and bowls. There were cabinets of vases. Drawers of linens. We saw artifacts from different cultures — earthenware, African baskets. But they’d all still be a curated collection. And we found inspiration in the way she could could take very-different objects — a sea pod, a bowl, fresh flowers — and turn that combination into sculpture. Ray made sure her toolbox was abundant, but how she put it together — that’s where the art came from.” Pictured above: Eames Table Outdoor and Eames Molded Plastic Side Chairs

See more of the Collection at hermanmiller.com/collection.

Photos: Francois Dischinger for Herman Miller

*Opening on February 23, 2013, The California Museum in Sacramento presents “Ray Eames: A Century of Modern Design,” revealing “a new perspective on Ray’s 60-year career in the arts, along with her influence on American culture and significance in history as one of the 20th century’s most influential artists.”

1. Eames: Beautiful Details, by Eames Demetrios - This vibrant, portable Charles and Ray Eames “exhibit” explores not only the iconic designs of the husband-and-wife team, but the wit, joy, and poetry of their lives. Get yours from Amazon.

2. Eames Walnut Stool - Ray called on her training as a sculptor to design this multi-purpose stool, originally designed for the Time & Life Building in New York City. With its distinctive silhouette in solid walnut, the stool is everything from eye-catching sculpture, to seat and stool, to table and stand. Find them at Herman Miller.

3. Blik Eames Wall Adhesives - Ray’s textile prints, created in the 1940s, now reside in several museum collections. Thanks to Blik, they can now reside in your home as decorative wall designs. Choose from Ray’s Crosspatch and Circles designs in a variety of colors. Find yours at Blik.

4. Changing Her Palette: Paintings by Ray Eames - Before studying at Cranbrook Academy of Art (where she met Charles), Ray studied abstract expressionist painting with Hans Hoffman in New York. This essential 40-page catalog from her show at the Eames Office Gallery offers a wonderful look at her early artistic work. Available from the Eames Office.

5. Select Eames Wire Base Low Table - Celebrating Ray’s spirited style and contributions to design, Herman Miller presents playful interpretations of the Low Table in cobalt blue, yellow-gold, and red-orange. Add a dash of color and enormous versatility with the perfect small surface solution. See them at Herman Miller.

6. Sea Things Print Textile by Maharam - Part of the Maharam Twentieth Century Collection, Ray’s “Sea Things” textile design has been re-issued for the 21st century. The pattern, available as seating material in a range four colors, features the unique aquatic life Ray originally designed in the 1940s. Her Circles, Crosspatch, and famous Dot Pattern designs are also available. See them all at Maharam.