Bronze Furniture · 2026
Desafinado Bench
- Bronze A' Design Award 2026 in Furniture
- CLIENT: SAL+Co
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 6,013
- Verification code 44E46399CF · Verify this award
Colors
About Desafinado Bench
Desafinado is a bench designed as a study in balance and restraint. The form follows Scandinavian clarity, with straight lines and simple geometry, combined with the weight and directness of Brazilian brutalist modernism. Low proportions invite a relaxed posture, and the split between seat and back creates visual tension. A deliberate overhang balances the seat and the back in opposite directions. The bench is made almost entirely of European oak with a black stain, and a thin hand-stitched cushion in Brazilian saddle leather completes the seat.
About the Bronze A' Design Award
Desafinado Bench is a Bronze A' Design Award winner, a highly prestigious recognition granted to outstanding designs distinguished by creativity, ingenuity, and astuteness. Bronze winners are amply skillful and strikingly creative artifacts that authenticate the vast experience, imagination, and resourcefulness of their designers. Desafinado Bench is expected to be a highly regarded, admired, and cherished object that is notably professional and innovative. This Bronze A' Design Award-winning design incorporates best practices in art, science, design, and technology, and is excellent for its attention to detail. Desafinado Bench splendidly satisfies needs, touches desires, charms feelings, and appeals to curiosity.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- The Desafinado bench is conceived as a study in balance and restraint. Rooted in Scandinavian design, it relies on simple, straight lines and clear geometry. The low-lying proportions invite a relaxed posture, while the split between back and seat creates a visual tension. An intentional overhang balances the extended seat and back to opposite directions, turning structure into function.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- Materials:
Black Stained Oak
Seat in saddle leather
Dimensions:
Width: 130 inches or 39624 mm
Depth: 16 inches or 4876.8 mm
Height: 22 inches or 6705.6 mm
Seat Height: 12 inches or 3657.6 mm - Tags
- Bench, Brazilian, wood, Balance, furniture
- Production Technology
- The bench is built almost entirely from a single material: European oak. Finished with a black stain, the wood emphasizes grain, mass, and shadow. This restrained material choice reinforces the clarity of the design, allowing form, proportion, and structure to define the piece without distraction.
The bench is complemented with a thin, hand-stitched seat cushion upholstered in authentic Brazilian saddle leather forced from local small business. - Inspiration
- The piece draws from Scandinavian clarity, but it is grounded in Brazilian brutalist modernism. Its forms are direct and architectural rather than delicate or refined. The bench avoids excessive polish, embracing weight, presence, and material honesty. This subtle roughness distinguishes it from Japanese minimalism and reinforces its brutalist character.
- Project Duration
- Conceived in Miami in 2022, the project evolved through an intensive four-month prototyping phase and reached its final form in August of that year. The bench exists as a true one-of-one piece; all remaining prototypes were deliberately destroyed upon completion, reinforcing its singularity.
- Operation Flow
- Beyond simple seating, the Desafinado Bench invites multiple uses: a surface to recline or stretch, a platform for books and objects, or an architectural element that works as a space divider or low table. It shifts easily between function and presence, adapting to the way the body and the room engage with it.
- Patents
- Copyrights belong to Cass Saldanha, 2022.
This design is available for reproduction. Please contact the Designer if you have interest in discuss intellectual property and licensing the rights. - Image Credits
- Cassiano Saldanha
