Materials for Design

Aluminium (Al)

When aluminium alloys were first commercialized at the end of the nineteenth century they were a new and aspirational material. Used for applications such as cutlery and dinnerware, aluminium was seen as having greater status even than gold and was around twice the cost. In the 1950s aluminium went through another period of promotion, when its light weight and strength were applied to buildings and iconic vehicles such as the Airstream caravan. Like plastic, which has followed a similarly progressive series of interpretations and associations, aluminium still maintains its value as a material but with embedded aspirational values and, together with magnesium and titanium, is a part of the trio of lightweight metals. It’s lightweight ...