Charles C. Eames’ Solar Toy / Photographer: Ralph Crane
[ Image via LIFE photo archives / ©LIFE ]
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This colorful kinetic solar toy was designed in the late 1950s by Charles Eames (1907–1978) for ALCOA (Aluminum Company of America). It is Goldberg-esque in its lack of function. It purposely did nothing…
In ALCOA’s 1959 publication Design Forecast 1, Oscar Shefler elaborates on the idea behind the Eames’ solar powered ‘do nothing machine’, “There is little pertinence in asking what the toy is supposed to do. It is not supposed to do. It is supposed to be. Its whole function is in its being.
See the solar toy in motion
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Run by Sun: Gadget is forerunner of future solar-power machine
The shimmering and fanciful contraption is a bit of artistic and scientific whimsy now, but it may be a forerunner of practical sun-powered appliances. It is the creation of Charles Eames, a designer who is fascinated by the potentialities of modern materials and a few years ago introduced molded plywood chairs. Recently Eames has turned his imagination to aluminum, capitalizing on its light weight to fashion a colorfully rotating, twirling, tinkling toy run by sunlight. A screen of shining aluminum strips focuses the sun’s rays onto a row of silicon cells. These convert the light into electricity to power small motors fastened to an array of pedestals. The low voltage produced is sufficient enough to set the units of aluminum abstracts into whirling motion. The toy has no use and is not for sale, but the Aluminum Company of America is sending it on tour as an enchanting harbinger of more useful sun machines for the future.
For further information, check out a great 2006 article on the Eames solar toy by Steve Roden on his blog Airform Archives.
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