Aluminum
No open-access works for Aluminum are in the index yet. They will appear here as more collections are indexed.
About Aluminum
Aluminium is abundant in the earth's crust but was hard to extract until the Hall–Héroult electrolytic process of 1886 made it cheap. Once mass-produced, its lightness, resistance to corrosion and soft silver-grey sheen suited aircraft, transport and modern furniture.
Designers exploited those qualities from the 1930s. Hans Coray's Landi Chair (1938), made for the Swiss National Exhibition, and the Emeco Navy Chair (1944), built for US warships, became lasting classics. Jean Prouvé designed prefabricated houses and facades with aluminium panels, and Marc Newson's Lockheed Lounge (1986) covers a fibreglass form with riveted sheets of the metal. Sculptors value it for large, light forms that can be painted or left bare, and many photographers now mount prints directly onto aluminium composite panels for a flat, frameless finish. Look for brushed, anodised or cast surfaces and remarkably thin, light sections.
The makers
