The Eames storage units represent a further development of the model furniture created at the beginning of the century in the Deutsche Werkstätten and at the Bauhaus. These, too, were made up of standardized elements joined together as building blocks. The stringently geometric construction and the use of dominant primary colors in the Eames storage units bring to mind the design principles of the De Stijl group. Eames repeatedly worked on modular wall units after his participation in the New York Museum of Modern Art competition “Organic Design in Home Furnishings.” One of his prizewinning designs was a wall unit developed jointly with Eero Saarinen in 1940-1 consisting of interchangeable elements with a bench as the basis upon which different boxlike elements could be freely arranged and stacked. Eames lent a more pleasant appearance to the system in his “Modular Storage Units” of 1946, especially by using plywood with an imprinted pattern of circles for the first time. After the construction of their “Case Study House No. 8” in 1949, Charles and Ray Eames reworked the concept of modular wall units from the ground up. In keeping with the construction and design pattern of their house, they developed a system of freestanding shelves which is assembled according to the principles of industrial mass production. As a variable construction set, the system offered nearly unlimited possibilities for combining prefabricated individual parts according to practical and decorative needs. The basic element in the system is a selfsupporting iron L-bar which was available in five sizes and optionally with a black lacquer, zinc, or chrome finish. The shelves were plywood, veneered with birch, walnut, or plastic laminate. The back and side sections of the compartments were available either in plywood, perforated metal, or masonite painted in eight different colors. Welded iron rods in cross form substitute for the colored pieces in some places to stabilize the supporting framework. The compartments can be closed off with sliding doors of ebonycolored fiberglass, black plastic laminate, or plywood with an imprinted pattern. The system also comprises compartments with three drawers each. Four desk versions were offered separately to match the shelves. Although the reasonably priced building set was suitable for homes as well as offices and went on display in 1950 in six different variations at the influential exhibit “Good Design” cosponsored by the Museum of Modern Art, it was still difficult to sell. Because of the complicated assembly involved, the furniture was later offered in the form of finished shelves, and the feet, which frequently broke off during transport, were replaced by screw-on tubes. Despite this, the “Storage Units” were not a market success and production was discontinued in 1955. MSC