ORGANIC DESIGN CASE GOODS BENCHES

The judges who awarded Eames and Saarinen the First Place Prize for Case Goods in the 1941 Organic Design Competition were very specific about the unique benefits of their system. They noted that while separate bases on which case goods could be placed had been used by other furniture designers, Eames and Saarinen went several steps further with theirs. First of all, they were the first to exploit the bases themselves, available in three different lengths, for themselves. Thus, they could be used for seating, and they also were carefully calibrated so that the case goods were elevated high enough so as not to block heating ducts or electrical outlets. In their design presentation, the designers even noted that the benches would make for a good bench for potted plants! Finally, the benches were engineered in such a way as to need only four legs, one in each corner. With such a system, fewer legs were needed to support more case goods or even the desk, which could be combined with these benches and cases.