--- title: Charles and Ray Eames and the Solar-Powered 'Do-Nothing Machine,' 1957 description: Charles and Ray Eames' Do-Nothing Machine is exactly the sort of endeavor that sends the more businesslike among us into conniptions. canonical: https://time.com/3879373/charles-and-ray-eames-and-the-solar-powered-do-nothing-machine-1957/ author: Ben Cosgrove article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-03-16T00:57:04.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:03:45.390Z og:title: Charles and Ray Eames and the Solar-Powered 'Do-Nothing Machine,' 1957 og:description: Charles and Ray Eames' Do-Nothing Machine is exactly the sort of endeavor that sends the more businesslike among us into conniptions. og:url: https://time.com/3879373/charles-and-ray-eames-and-the-solar-powered-do-nothing-machine-1957/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3bac5f90da308072/69884a7f0b72e31bc06e3676/01181040-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1500 og:image:height: 844 og:image:alt: Charles Eames With His "Do Nothing Machine" og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Charles and Ray Eames and the Solar-Powered 'Do-Nothing Machine,' 1957 twitter:description: Charles and Ray Eames' Do-Nothing Machine is exactly the sort of endeavor that sends the more businesslike among us into conniptions. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3bac5f90da308072/69884a7f0b72e31bc06e3676/01181040-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # In Praise of a Whimsical, Solar-Powered 'Do-Nothing Machine' > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. by [Ben Cosgrove](https://time.com/author/ben-cosgrove/) ## Ben Cosgrove Mar 16, 2014 12:57 AM UTC  American architect and designer Charles Eames with his "Do-Nothing Machine," Calif., August 1957. American architect and designer Charles Eames with his "Do-Nothing Machine," Calif., August 1957. Ralph Crane—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images by [Ben Cosgrove](https://time.com/author/ben-cosgrove/) ## Ben Cosgrove Mar 16, 2014 12:57 AM UTC In an age when every discussion of America’s educational system and the country’s status in the world seems to end with all sides loudly proclaiming the joys of utility_—Never mind critical thinking. Never mind the arts. Education is about jobs!—_celebrating the purely whimsical might feel like a kind of secular heresy. But seven short decades ago, two of the most creative and influential figures in America’s cultural life, the husband-and-wife architecture and design team of Charles and Ray Eames, lent their formidable imaginations to the creation of a machine so _non_\-utilitarian that its pointlessness gave the gadget its name: the “Do-Nothing Machine.” Solar-powered, brightly colored and emphatically impractical, the Eames’ machine was exactly the sort of mechanism that sends the more businesslike and pragmatic among us into conniptions. “B-b-but,” they sputter, “it doesn’t _do_ anything!” Yes. Exactly. And that, of course, is the machine’s genius. [\[See more in the gallery, “Charles and Ray Eames: Simply Genius”\]](http://life.time.com/culture/charles-and-ray-eames-photos-of-the-legendary-designers-in-1950/#1) Or rather, that’s one part of the machine’s genius. If looked at from a slightly different angle, however, the Do-Nothing Machine actually performs a societal service far more valuable than that provided by, say, the average backhoe, senator or Kardashian. The Do-Nothing Machine, after all, at-once embodies and evokes the spirit of pure, unadulterated originality. Its lack of any specific, hierarchical function or purpose frees it from the burden of meeting expectations, while its intrinsic playfulness subtly challenges other inventors, engineers and designers to step up. _If we could build this lovely, useless little device and power it with sunlight_, the Eames seemed to be saying, _just imagine the magnificent, useful machines human beings could build if they really put their minds to it._ In the meantime, while we wait for human beings to come up with more of those magnificent, useful machines, we have this wonderful portrait of Charles Eames proudly showing off the Do-Nothing Machine as it spins and wheels in full-on, meaningless whirligig mode. Beautiful, isn’t it? --- _Ben Cosgrove is the Editor of LIFE.com_ ---  American architect and designer Charles Eames with his "Do-Nothing Machine," Calif., August 1957. 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