We’ve been bending a lot of plywood lately.
Back in 1943, Charles and Ray Eames made this sculpture as one of the first in a series of plywood experiments. Steam-bending was an emerging technology back then — a woodworking technique where strips of wood were blasted with enough heat and moisture to make the wood pliable and allow it to easily bend around a mold. The Eameses called their plywood-molding apparatus the “Kazam!” machine or the “magic box.” 🧙🧙♂️ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
More on the pros and cons of plywood in coming posts.