Image: Eames Institute, Richmond
The Eames Institute has introduced a new issue of 'Kazam!' Magazine that looks to the inventive spirit associated with Ray and Charles Eames and connects it to contemporary designers, makers and innovators. The issue frames that legacy through ideas of rethinking possibility, with emphasis on sustainability, circular design and problem-solving.
According to the institute’s newsletter, the magazine takes its title from the handmade 'Kazam!' machine created by Ray and Charles Eames to three-dimensionally shape plywood into forms that were previously impossible. The publication uses that story as a point of departure for profiles of modern practitioners who, in the institute’s words, carry forward the Eames tradition of inventive wizardry. The newsletter presents the magazine as a collection of people and subjects aligned with that approach.
The Eames Institute, based in Richmond, California, says the magazine is part of its effort to preserve the Eames legacy while also engaging with broader questions about the future. In the newsletter, the institution describes that work as an imperative to transform paradigms and structures to ensure the longevity of the planet. The publication therefore places design history in direct conversation with present-day environmental concerns rather than treating it as a closed archive.
Among the themes highlighted in the issue are zero-waste initiatives, circular design and food systems. The institute says 'Kazam!' features sustainability pioneers working in those areas, suggesting a format that moves between design culture and practical responses to ecological pressure. The newsletter also points readers to an ongoing 'Design Q&A' feature in which contemporary innovators offer new perspectives on questions the Eameses addressed in their 1972 film.
The Eames Institute’s presentation positions 'Kazam!' as both a tribute and a platform. Its newsletter says the magazine profiles the Eames spirit of inventive wizardry as expressed by artists, makers and innovators today, and it directs readers to additional profiles and highlights through the magazine’s Instagram account. The publication is also explicitly framed as a licensed use of the Eames name, with the institute noting that 'Eames' is used by permission under license from Eames Office, LLC.
No exhibition or live event is attached to the release in the available source material. Instead, the announcement is centered on the magazine itself and on the institute’s editorial framing of design as an ongoing process of experimentation. The newsletter closes with contact and subscription information for the institute, which is located at 1324 South 51st St, Richmond, California 94804.
