
Architecture, Design and Aluminum
Aluminum is quite a durable and lightweight material that finds utility in many applications today. The range of forms it can take (castings, extrusions and tubes, sheet & plate, foil, powder, forgings, etc.) and variety of surface finishes available (coatings, anodizing, polishing, etc.) means it lends itself to a wide range of products. Automobiles, aircraft, trucks, railway cars, marine vessels, bicycles, cans, foil, cooking utensils to baseball bats, watches, but also in construction we can have windows, doors, siding, building wire, etc… and we can find today houses being made using large amounts of aluminum. It’s also a material that can be easily recyclable over and over making it an ecological choice.
The idea of using aluminum in housing is wise but not entirely recent. For example, in the mid-1940s, Jacque Fresco designed one of the first all glass-aluminum structures, known as the Trend Home. This was a new low cost form of modernistic and functional housing. The structure could be erected by ten men in eight hours.
Nowadays, aluminum is still finding ways to get into the housing business. Structures, facades, tiles, stairs, etc…
Aluminum furniture is also very prevalent, lounge chairs, consoles, tables, cabinets, can all benefit from the versatility of this material that can easily be shaped into our desires.