'Aluminum' exhibit shines in New York

Marc Newson's Lockheed Lounge chair (1986-88), named after the U.S. aircraft manufacturer, was produced in a limited edition of 10

March 21, 2001
Web posted at: 10:00 a.m. EST (1500 GMT)

In this story: Lamps, planes and dresses The French connection RELATED STORIES, SITES

By Deb Krajnak
Special to CNN

(CNN) -- The next time you gaze at the Washington Monument, think about this: Its tip, the very top of the 555-foot structure, is aluminum. The cast-metal pyramid, 8.8 inches high, was set atop the building in 1884 as a lightning rod.

A replica of the tip sits unassumingly amid the gleaming objects in the traveling exhibit "Aluminum by Design: From Jewelry to Jets," a retrospective on the metal that has become so commonplace. The show opened Monday at the Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum in New York, the first stop on a worldwide tour. It is the first major show focusing on the metal.

GALLERY Click to see some pieces in the exhibit     RESOURCE Click for more information about "Aluminum by Design"

The collection of about 125 items traces the history of aluminum from its development in France in the 1850s to its early Modernist uses in architecture and interiors, and its impact on aeronautics, transportation and industry.

Deborah Sampson Shinn, the assistant curator in charge of the exhibit at the Cooper-Hewitt, said it's only natural for the show to stop at the museum, because of the metal's influence on cutting-edge, 20th-century designers who were looking for a new design medium. They found it with aluminum.

"For those trying to make a break from the past, that would have been an appropriate metal to choose," she said. Few will leave the exhibit without being impressed by aluminum's sheer versatility.

There is an ornate cast-aluminum table centerpiece presented to Emperor Napoleon III of France in 1858 and a whimsical 1969 mini-dress designed by Paco Rabanne. A 1997 Audi car frame, constructed of aluminum alloy, is installed so it appears to race toward visitors at the entrance.

Architects even used aluminum in designing exhibit displays. Aluminum and plastic -- also developed in the 1800s -- revolutionized 20th-century design, according to Sarah Nichols, who organized the exhibit at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She also helped write "Aluminum by Design" (Harry N. Abrams publishers, $75), a 300-page compendium of things aluminum. Both plastic and aluminum continue to influence design and industry in the new millennium, she said.

Lamps, planes and dresses

A recent walk through the show at the Carnegie in Pittsburgh confirmed that there is hardly a corner of daily life and commerce that aluminum hasn't touched. Remember those harbingers of summer, those colorful metal beverage tumblers from the 1950s that dripped with condensation and chilled your fingers? You can thank anodized aluminum for their existence.

This circa 1860 suite of jewelry, probably from France, is crafted entirely of aluminum and gold

Maybe you own an aluminum lamp or chair, listen to a Sony Walkman, drive a car with an aluminum frame or work in a building with architectural details made of that resilient substance.

Perhaps you once played with a model train? Aluminum alloys are widely used in airplanes, bicycles and other modes of transportation. Among the architects and designers represented in the exhibit are Marcel Breuer, Buckminster Fuller, Russel Wright, Frank Gehry, Rene Lalique and Philippe Starck.

The French connection

Frenchman Henri Sainte-Claire Deville produced the first useful aluminum in 1854. The metal made its first public appearance the next year, at the 1855 Paris Exposition. Until 1862, it was considered a rare metal, and was used mostly for jewelry, decorative objects and delicate mechanical parts.

In time, the qualities of aluminum -- especially its light weight and ability to form alloys and be recycled -- expanded its uses. In 1886, an American and a Frenchman discovered the electrolytic process for producing aluminum. A group of Pittsburgh businessmen and metallurgists formed the Pittsburgh Reduction Company in 1888, which eventually became Alcoa Inc., the exhibit's main sponsor.

Many of the objects are from museums and private collections in Europe, and range widely in shape and purpose. One of Shinn's favorites is a propeller from a Douglas DC-3 that flew in the 1944 Normandy invasion during World War II. To her, it epitomizes aluminum at its best. "It's just so pure," she said. "It's this beautiful shape that looks like a sculpture."

Washington Monument reopens after $10 million facelift
July 31, 2000

Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum
Alcoa Inc.
Carnegie Museum of Art
Paco Rabanne
The Washington Monument
Marcel Breuer (Loggia)
Picture Gallery: Russel Wright spun aluminum
Frank Gehry (Great Buildings Online)
Rene Lalique
Philippe Starck

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