The machine was the idea.
Charles & Ray Eames were definitely ahead of their time. Even today, their work is still around us, remaining a reference of modernity.
In 1957, Alcoa, the Aluminum Company of America, commissioned the duo to design the Solar Do-Nothing-Machine to show the virtues of aluminum to create unusual things. The machine was also one of the first uses of solar power to produce electricity.
The Eameses were true believers in the power of toys, and this formidable non-utilitarian creation is a good example of their geniuses in using innocent devices and mechanisms to help explain complex solutions in a simple and playful way.
This pre-activation era installation shows how their visionary approach to design is still very much relevant today.