The French word ‘plier’ means to fold. The English word ‘ply’ means layer. Plywood literally means layers of wood. The word plywood is a collective name for furniture that consists of sheets of thin layers of wood (veneer), which are glued together and then bent, pressed and fixed in shape using molds.
Marcel Breuer designed this iconic plywood lounge chair, along with a matching sofa, specifically for the Ventris family flat in the Highpoint building in Highgate, London in 1936. Only two pieces were made of this spectacular design. One of these two original armchairs is in the permanent collection of the V&A Museum in London.
The plywood lounge chair designed by Gerald Summers in 1934 is one of the most famous plywood icons. It is made of a single sheet of birch plywood. Not a single screw or joint has been used!
The graceful molded plywood chair designed by Grete Jalk, the GJ chair, is one of the leading plywood chairs ever made. Due to technical constraints during the creation in 1963, only approximately 300 pieces where made of which only a few still exist. The re-release of this icon was in spite of our current technical capabilities a true challenge and was established due to the kind cooperation of several cultural institutions in Denmark.
The Venus Chair illustrates Hans Wegner’s genius by showing features of his main masterpieces: fine material, refined joining, curved lines. Wegner chose plywood because it was the only technique possible to create such a shape and because of its strength. This iconic piece was orginally designed in 1948 and re-issued today in Denmark.
Find these plywood icons and more on our website www.wonderwoodstore.nl!
