“Plywood: Material, Process, Form” Exhibition

The Museum of Modern Art

poster for “Plywood: Material, Process, Form” Exhibition

This event has ended.

“Plywood,” explained “Popular Science” in 1948, “is a layercake of lumber and glue.” In the history of design, plywood is also an important modern material that has given 20th-century designers of everyday objects, furniture, and even architecture greater flexibility in shaping modern forms at an industrial scale. This installation features examples, drawn from MoMA’s collection, of modern designs that take advantage of the formal and aesthetic possibilities offered by plywood, from around 1930 through the 1950s. Archival photographs illuminate the process of design and manufacture in plywood. Iconic furniture by Alvar Aalto, Charles and Ray Eames, Eero Saarinen, and Arne Jacobsen appear alongside organic platters by Tapio Wirkkala (1951), Sori Yanagi’s Butterfly Stool (1956), an architectural model for a prefabricated house by Marcel Breuer (1943), and experimental designs for plywood in the aeronautics industry.
[Image: Sori Yanagi. Butterfly Stool. 1956. Molded plywood and metal, 15 1/2 x 17 3/8 x 12 1/8” (39.4 x 44.1 x 30.8 cm). Manufactured by Tendo Co., Ltd., Tokyo. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of the designer, 1958]

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Schedule

from February 02, 2011 to September 08, 2013

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    Reviews

    catchjournal: (2011-04-28 at 19:04)

    Far too small to really be called an exhibition. This a mere corner of a space with less than 20 items. A shame because it's fantastic subject and instead becomes yet another missed opportunity by the supermarket that is MOMA.

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