Plywood: Material, Process, Form is an ongoing exhibit at The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City that will be open to the public starting tomorrow, February 2, 2012. We have seen many architectural projects that take advantage of the flexibility this “layer cake of lumber and glue”, as described by Popular Science in 1948, has to offer. Plywood has given 20th-century designers a material embodying “formal and aesthetic” qualities on an industrial scale.
More on the exhibit after the break.
MoMA’s exhibition in the The Philip Johnson Architecture and Design Galleries features examples from two decades of work, along with actual models donated by the designers, such as Sori Yanagi’s butterfly stools (1956), and iconic furniture by Alvar Aalto, Charles and Ray Eames, Eero Saarinen, and Arne Jacobsen. Also on display will be Tapio Wirkkala’s organic platters (1951) and Marcel Breuer‘s architectural model for a prefabricated house (1943). Alongside these examples are archival photos that reveal the process of manufacturing plywood and the design behind the material.
Many contemporary architects have taken liberties in designing with plywood, which can be see in Pablo Esteban Zamorano’s Expandable Surface Pavilion and Patkau Architects’ Winnipeg Skating Shelters. Check out other creative plywood designs here.
The exhibition is curated by Juliet Kinchin along with Curatorial Assitant Aidan O’Connor, Department of Architecture and Design, The Museum of Modern Art. The MoMA is located at 11 West 53 Street, New York, NY 10019. Hours are Wednesday through Monday: 10:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Friday: 10:30 a.m.-8:00 p.m. Closed Tuesday. Admission is free for all on Target Free Fridays 4 p.m. – 8 p.m.
via MoMA
