The most iconic samples of Modernism’s fascination with plywood exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art from February 2, 2011.

Charles Eames (American, 1907-1978) and Ray Eames (American, 1912-1988). Lounge Chair. c. 1944. Molded plywood and steel rod, 28 3/4 x 30 1/8 x 30″ (73 x 76.5 x 76.2 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of the designers, 1973.

Charles Eames (American, 1907-1978) and Ray Eames (American, 1912-1988). Lounge Chair. c. 1944. Molded plywood and steel rod, 28 3/4 x 30 1/8 x 30″ (73 x 76.5 x 76.2 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of the designers, 1973.

Sori Yanagi (Japanese, born 1915). Butterfly Stools. 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.

Gerald Summers (British, 1899-1967). Lounge Chair. 1934. Bent birch plywood with pigmented lacquer, 29 5/8 x 23 1/2 x 35″ (75.2 x 59.7 x 88.9 cm). Manufactured by Makers of Simple Furniture, Ltd., London. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Barbara Jakobson Purchase Fund and Peter Norton Purchase Fund and Gift of Robert and Joyce Menschel, 2000.

‘Plywood,’ explained Popular Science in 1948 ‘is a layer cake 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. Plywood: Material, Process, Form, and installation in MoMA’s Philip Johnson Architecture and Design Galleries, features examples 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. The installation is organized by Juliet Kinchin, Curator, and Aidan O’Connor, Curatorial Assistant, Department of Architecture and Design, The Museum of Modern Art.

Plywood: Material, Process, Form. February 2, 2011–Ongoing. The Philip Johnson Architecture and Design Galleries, third floor. The Museum of Modern Art, 11 West 53 Street, New York, NY, USA, www.moma.org.
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