CONSERVATION PROJECTS
MATERIAL AND TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH
The Tube Chair.
When Wet-Look becomes dry
Material – Degradation – Preservation
Project year: 2002
The project is dedicated to the production of various polyurethane modifications and their applications in furniture design. The main focus is the period between 1960 and 1970, specified by the example of the so-called ‘Tube-Chair’. The study of the furniture includes the production history, its contemporary significance and finally the material analysis. The presentation of object-specific damages, the comparison to other Tube-Chairs as well as to comparable objects leads to the description of exogenous and endogenous aging factors, which are practically reproduced by test series on reference material (cf. ‘Good to have a finger in the pie’).
Based on these results, the possibilities of conservation measures as well as the museum handling of damaged objects will be discussed.
Cooperation partners:
– Lehrstuhl für Restaurierung, Konservierungswissenschaft und Kunsttechnologie, Technische Universität München
– Doerner-Institut München
– Instituut Collectie Netherland, Amsterdam
– Landeskriminalamt München
Good to have a finger in the pie.
Accelerated aging on polyurethane-coated textile carrier substrates.
As part of the Tube-Chair project (see above), extensive aging tests were carried out on polyurethane-coated textile substrates and evaluated by means of microscopic and scanning electron microscopic examinations.
Cooperation partners:
– Lehrstuhl für Restaurierung, Konservierungswissenschaft und Kunsttechnologie, Technische Universität München
– Doerner-Institut München
– Instituut Collectie Netherland, Amsterdam
The Red-Blue Chair by Gerrit Rietveld
A serial examination
Project year: 2003
In the present work, five models of Gerrit Rietveld’s Red-Blue Chair were technologically examined. The aim of the project was to use macroscopic and microscopic examinations as well as comparisons of different Red-Blue models to facilitate the chronological assignment of the most famous chair by the Dutch designer Gerrit T. Rietveld, which is still frequently copied today.
During the project, a survey was sent to 22 design museums worldwide in order to locate and evaluate further early examples of the Red-Blue Chair. After a period of 11 months, the response of 10 museums is still pending; 11 houses are not in possession of an early specimen. Consequently, the present work is limited to 5 chairs and should be seen as an interim report of an overall project that will be pursued further.
Cooperation partner:
– Lehrstuhl für Restaurierung, Konservierungswissenschaft und Kunsttechnologie, Technische Universität München
Houston we have a problem
When flying saucers become brittle
Technological studies
on a plastic house of the late 1960s
Project year: 2004
The Neue Sammlung Munich conducted detailed material-technological investigations on Futuro # 13 and developed a processing concept for further conservation measures. As a result of the various uses as well as weathering influences, the house showed significant damage. In close cooperation with various European institutions, extensive technological investigations were carried out and the aging mechanisms were described.
Cooperation partners:
– Institut für Restaurierungs- und Konservierungswissenschaften, Fachhochschule Köln
– Lehrstuhl für Restaurierung, Konservierungswissenschaft und Kunsttechnologie, Technische Universität München
– Fachbereich Konservierung und Restaurierung Moderner Materialien,
Hochschule der Künste, Bern
– Doerner-Institut München
– Instituut Collectie Netherland, Amsterdam
– Fakultät für Agrarwissenschaft, Universität Mailand
– Lehrstuhls für Geodäsie, Technische Universität München
Fantastic Plastic?
Latex rubber as seat covering
Aging – Reconstruction – Storage
Project year: 2005
In 1987, the British designer Tom Dixon designed the prototype of a cantilever chair that later became a design classic in the series production of the Italian company Capellini. It is the so-called S-Chair. One of the few early designs has been in the possession of the Neue Sammlung, The International Design Museum Munich, since the early 1990s.
The research project focuses on the dramatic degradation of the seat covering made of thin latex rubber and discusses the conception of necessary measures with regard to both conservation and curatorial considerations; the development and implementation of an adequate conservation strategy as well as the conception of a suitable exhibition concept.
Cooperation partner:
– Lehrstuhl für Restaurierung, Konservierungswissenschaft und Kunsttechnologie, Technische Universität München
Celluloid in the museum
Aging and storage concepts
Project year: 2005
Celluloid (cellulose nitrate) is a semi-synthetic plastic that has been produced industrially since 1875 (Stain, Paris). Initially used primarily for cable sheathing, protective coatings and in dental technology, the thermoplastic material gradually made its way into everyday life. In optical products, celluloid was enthusiastically adopted as an imitation for horn and tortoise due to its transparency and good workability. Celluloid objects from the holdings of Die Neue Sammlung -The Design Museum exhibit varying degrees of aging phenomena and damage. The project Celluloid in the Museum discusses corresponding damage patterns and develops a coherent conservation concept.
Service life unknown.
Accumulators in mobile communications
Technology – Problems – Solutions
Project year: 2006
Die Neue Sammlung – The Design Museum, owns several thousand cell phones from various manufacturers. Among them are the earliest models from the 1980s to current products and prototypes. For the permanent preservation of this collection, it is important to minimize the possible risk factors. In this case, it is primarily the accumulators contained in the devices, some of which are permanently integrated, that contain hazardous substances. Since almost all accumulators contain environmentally hazardous substances, they must be separated from the device and disposed of properly.
The substances contained in the accumulators may leak out due to age-related fatigue of the sheathing material and cause serious damage.
Cooperation partner:
– Lehrstuhl für Restaurierung, Konservierungswissenschaft und Kunsttechnologie, Technische Universität München
CONSERVATION PROJECTS
MATERIAL AND TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH
Cracks in free swing
Possibilities of crack bonding of the Panton Chair made of Luran S®.
In 1971, the production of the so-called Panton Chair was switched to the much more efficient injection molding process using the polystyrene-based product ‘Luran S’ from BASF. In addition to the lower raw material costs of this thermoplastic material, the production process was much more efficient. Characteristic features of this series are the significantly wider lateral edge due to stability, production-related uniform wall thicknesses and the stabilizing reinforcing slats in the knee area of the chair. The increasing number of complaints from 1974 onwards, due to fractures in the more heavily loaded knee and back zones of the chair, finally led to a production stop of the Luran-S version in 1979. In the course of this project, extensive adhesive tests were carried out to determine the ideal adhesive for bonding corresponding damage
Cooperation partner:
– Lehrstuhl für Restaurierung, Konservierungswissenschaft und Kunsttechnologie, Technische Universität München
Jobpit 2000
Conservation of a futuristic workplace design
Project year: 2006/2007
The ‘Jobpit’, a model for a futuristic desk by Gerhard Beigel and colleagues from 1967, impressively documents the vision of the future of a workplace in the year 2000. In addition to minor traces of use, the model shows above all an extremely faded textile covering of the base plate. On the basis of covered areas, it was possible to reconstruct the original color. By means of fiber analysis as well as elaborate dyeing tests, the original vision of the model desk could be reconstructed.
Cooperation partners::
– Lehrstuhl für Restaurierung, Konservierungswissenschaft und Kunsttechnologie, Technische Universität München
– Bayrisches Nationalmuseum München
Everything okay in the bathroom and WC?
Deinstallation and technology of a wet room of the 1972 Munich Olympic Village made of glass-fiber-reinforced poly(methyl methacrylate)
Project year: 2007
Cooperation partner:
– Lehrstuhl für Restaurierung, Konservierungswissenschaft und Kunsttechnologie, Technische Universität München
Early imitation leather
Reconstruction of an early artificial leather cover using the example of the
Hinz health chair from 1931
This project dealt with the history and technology of early artificial leathers as well as the reconstruction of a back upholstery cover of a health chair made by the Hinz company in the early 1930s. The chair is considered to be one of the first office chairs to take into account the negative effects of prolonged sitting at the workplace on the spine and to provide more back-friendly sitting positions. The task in this project was to find a substitute material for the artificial leather of the backrest, which was no longer preserved, and which should correspond as far as possible in appearance to the artificial leather of the seat which was still preserved. In addition to various possibilities of surface molding of the fine embossing, as well as accelerated aging tests of artificial and genuine leather, different dyeing agents were tested and evaluated.
Cooperation partner:
– Lehrstuhl für Restaurierung, Konservierungswissenschaft und Kunsttechnologie, Technische Universität München
Sugo per sempre?
Ersatzmassen in Lebensmittelverpackungen
Probleme – Bedeutung – Rekonstruktion
The subject of the present project is a jar of tomato sauce from the organic food series OAO, produced by the Belgian company WSL Bio. The organic tomato sauce found its way into Die Neue Sammlung together with other products of the OAO series such as basmati rice, wholemeal cookies or apple cider vinegar, because the packaging of the series is designed by the French designer Philippe Starck. Unlike dry foods, tomato sauce is subject to faster spoilage and more visual change as it ages. Two circular cutouts in the label present the contents of the jar, which thus become an immediate part of the packaging design. Due to the gradual deterioration of the contents and an accompanying discoloration of the same, the original design idea of the packaging is changed. For this reason, it was decided to replace the sauce. In this project, the focus was on preserving the originally intended appearance.
Different colored liquid and solid substitutes were tested for an appropriate reconstruction before the sauce was finally replaced with a two-component silicone colored in mass.
Cooperation partners:
– Lehrstuhl für Restaurierung, Konservierungswissenschaft und Kunsttechnologie der Technischen Universität München
Throw away?
Damage in PVC coated fabrics
Technology – aging – conservation
Project year: 2007
The sofa ‘Throw away’ was designed in 1965 by Italian designer Willie Landels and has been in production at Zanotta since 1966. It was created with the intention of increasing industrial furniture production by using the most modern technologies and materials and simplifying production processes. ‘Throw away’ is the first sofa whose internal structure is made entirely of cold-foamed flexible polyurethane foam. It is covered with a glossy PVC-coated upholstery fabric, and the base plate is made of polystyrene. The production process is reduced by 80% compared to traditional upholstery products. After about 40 years, the first signs of aging, such as discoloration and cracks, can be observed, especially on the cover fabric. Aspects such as technology, aging mechanisms and possibilities for restoration were worked out as examples within the framework of this project.
Cooperation partners:
– Lehrstuhl für Werkstoffkunde und Werkstoffmechanik, Technische Universität München
– Chair of Conservation of Cultural Heritage, University Sorbonne Paris
Lectron
When plastic films tear
The physics construction set ‘Lectron System 300 Computer Logic’ which was developed in Switzerland in the early 1960s is integrated in a stackable outer packaging made of a green, stiff polystyrene plastic film. Deformations and cracks have occurred due to use. Sensitive areas in particular, such as the corners, were severely damaged by mechanical impact. As part of the project, weakened and damaged material zones were reshaped, stabilized and supplemented where necessary. Test series and preliminary trials provided the necessary basis for this.
Cooperation partner:
– Fachbereich Konservierung und Restaurierung Moderner Materialien,
Hochschule der Künste, Bern
A star is worn
Coatings based on unsaturated polyester
Technology – damage patterns – restoration
Project year: 2003, 2007, 2009
Polyester resins have been increasingly used in furniture design since the end of the Second World War. The impregnation of fiber material with polyester resin on negative molds represented an optimal possibility for the production of three-dimensionally shaped prototypes and small series in view of the low tooling costs. However, polyester did not only shape the furniture landscape in connection with structuring fiber material. The domestic world of dark-stained Wirtschaftswunder furnishings is incomplete without its characteristic glass-like high-gloss surface. Millimeter-thick layers of lacquer documented noble and exotic living. Using the example of the luxurious radio-phono combination Kuba Komet this research project identifies and characterizes corresponding lacquer systems and elaborates various possibilities of consolidation and completion.
Cooperation partners:
– Institut für Restaurierungs- und Konservierungswissenschaften, Fachhochschule Köln
– Institute Nationale du Patrimoine, Paris
– Doerner-Institut München
– Instituut Collectie Netherland, Amsterdam
When bentwood breaks
On the reconstruction of an armrest in bentwood technique
Project year: 2007
As part of a cooperation project with the private academy of furniture conservation: Goering Institute, Munich, the missing armrest of a so-called ‘China Stool’ by the designer Hans J. Wegener was reconstructed using bentwood technology.
Cooperation partner:
– Fachakademie Goering Institut e.V.
Hüben wie drüben
Double-sided problems with self-adhesive PVC films
Project year: 2008
The cabinet “Hüben wie Drüben” was created in 1991 by the designer ‘Stiletto’. It is not an ordinary container furniture, with the conventional interior division of a built-in cabinet, but rather a singular art object. With the image motif of the Brandenburger Tor on the front and back, the designer refers to the opening of the border of the GDR, which took place in 1989. In addition, the ‘Volksverbindende Schranktrennwand’ through doors mounted on both sides, has an unusual function – it is passable; imitating the passage of the Brandenburger Tor from West to East and vice versa. Constructively, the cabinet consists of individual boards, which are connected by means of dowels, Minifix and Spax screws. Lack of shelves allows the passage of the cabinet, but the furniture is unstable due to the lack of a bracing back wall. The design of the rectangular cabinet is simple in design except for the photo motif of the front and back. All the surfaces have a smooth design. The furniture, which is called a room divider by the designer, was shown, among others, in 1991 in the exhibition ‘Interferences – Art from Berlin’ in Riga and St. Petersburg. The multi-layered doors of the cabinet furniture are the focus of the project. Due to improper storage and age-related material degradation, the outermost, transparent protective PVC film in particular is damaged. Damage such as scratches, delamination and incipient embrittlement require action. By means of extensive adhesive tests on comparative material, a profound methodology for laying down detached areas could be developed. In addition, the layer-by-layer decorative structure of the doors was technologically investigated and reconstructed by means of fabricating a dummy.
Cooperation partners:
– Institut für Restaurierungs- und Konservierungswissenschaften, Fachhochschule Hildesheim
– Instituut Collectie Netherland, Amsterdam
Homemade Panton Chair?
Molding and lamination of a design classic in a self-experiment
Project year: 2008
The technological development of the Panton Chair is characteristic of the plastic boom in design in the 1960s. The search for a suitable material, often in direct cooperation with the manufacturing industry, with all its successes and setbacks, is particularly characteristic of that period. The first model of the Panton Chair produced in small series was realized in glass-fiber-reinforced polyester resin. Since early Panton chairs from this series are repeatedly offered at auctions and in galleries, this study was intended to clarify how difficult or easy it is to make a copy of an original Panton chair by molding and laminating, and how close one can come to the original in this way. In order to avoid the possibility of producing a forgery oneself, a third-series Panton chair (material Luran® S) was used as a mold. The results obtained in this way also provided valuable insight into the material’s specific properties.
Cooperation partners:
– Lehrstuhl für Restaurierung, Konservierungswissenschaft und Kunsttechnologie, Technische Universität München
– Kunststoffwerkstatt, Akademie der Künste, München
Temporary tapes in car design
Permanent preservation of temporary design elements
Project year: 2008 / 2017
Tape drawing is still an indispensable part of the design process in the automotive industry today. Designers use flexible adhesive tapes to transfer their sketches to package plans, a kind of map of the future vehicle with all the technical details on a scale of 1:1. In the finished tape drawing, the silhouette and character lines already give an idea of the future personality of the vehicle.
In this project, the challenge was to permanently preserve a tape drawing that had been glued directly onto the walls of an exhibition room.
After the end of the exhibition, this work had to be transferred from the wall surface to a transportable image carrier in order to preserve it permanently. Inspired by the Italian so-called ‘strappo’ technique for removing medieval frescoes, a suitable procedure was developed using transparent adhesive tape.
Cooperation partner (2017):
– Universität für Angewandte Kunst, Wien, Österrreich
Essentially soft
Elastic coatings on soft foam furniture of the 1960s
Project year: 2009
The advent of cold foam technology for PUR soft foams in the mid-1960s led to a short-term fashion for large-sized soft foam furniture, most of which was coated with garishly colored rubber lacquers. Through use, as well as exogenous environmental influences, this coating is predestined for aging processes. Brittleness, cracking and finally the loss of these coatings and the resulting exposure of the soft foam core lead to accelerated degradation reactions of the same.
This project has demonstrated the influence of both light and mechanical stress by means of extensive aging tests on sample material.
Cooperation partners:
– Graduate Institute of Conservation of Cultural Relicts,
Tainan National University of Arts, Taiwan
– Institute Nationale du Patrimoine, Paris
On the trail of the 30s
Technological examination and restoration of a Bauhaus piece of furniture
Project year: 2009
The cabinet, designed by Anton Lorenz for the Luckhard brothers at the end of the 1920s, showed substantial damage from exposure to moisture, continuous surface treatments with furniture polishes, and improper use when purchased. The resulting overall appearance was inhomogeneous. The aim of the conservation work to be carried out was the cleaning, consolidation of loose parts, partial retouching and the addition of missing parts. In the course of the treatment, important technological information could be obtained. In addition to the unusual construction of the furniture, the structure of the surface coating of the iron frames as well as the varnish and binder analysis were of particular interest.
Cooperation partners:
– Bayerisches Landesamt für Denkmalpflege München
– Instituut Collectie Netherland, Amsterdam
– Doerner-Institut München
Kitchen Stories
Technological study and restoration of a Le Corbusier kitchen from the Unité d’habitation, Marseille.
Project year: 2009 to 2011
Die Neue Sammlung -The Design Museum is in possession of an unusually extensive collection of kitchens, which covers a period of around 60 years. Among them a Frankfurt kitchen (1926, Schütte-Lihozky), a kitchen by Egon Eiermann (1941) and a kitchen ensemble from the Unité d’habitation, Marseille (1949, Atelier Le Corbusier) to name just a few. Both the high functionality, the innovation of the modified interpretation of space, as well as the excellent aesthetic formulation of these designs are responsible for the fact that these kitchens were used intensively for several decades. The restoration of such room ensembles is correspondingly demanding, extensive and complex.
In addition to intensive source research and extensive technological investigations, the present project has focused on the restoration of the so-called ‘Corbusier kitchen’.
Cooperation partners:
– Instituut Collectie Netherland, Amsterdam
– Doerner-Institut München
– Bayerisches Landesamt für Denkmalpflege München
– Lehrstuhl für Restaurierung, Konservierungswissenschaft und Kunsttechnologie, Technische Universität München
Elastic putties
An early computer-generated hard foam sculpture by Greg Lynn
Project year: 2010
The computer sculpture ‘Expanding the Gap’, created in 2001 by Californian designer Gregg Lynn, was part of the permanent exhibition of Computer Culture at the Pinakothek der Moderne. After 8 years of hanging, the wall-sized relief, made of CNC-milled hard foam panels, developed its first vertically running cracks, while the surface coating partially detached from the support material. Within the framework of a restoration project, an elastic putty material made of acrylic resin mixed with hollow glass beads was developed on the basis of extensive test series, as well as a proven procedure for vertical application in situ.
Cooperation partner:
– Institut für Restaurierungs- und Konservierungswissenschaften, Fachhochschule Köln
Incandescent lamps in the collection of Die Neue Sammlung
Monitoring and conception of an adequate collection strategy
Die Neue Sammlung – The Design Museum has around 600 lamps from the early 20th to the 21st century in its collection. The light bulb, or the illuminant, has two main functions: The quality of the emitted light and the formal design of the illuminant itself. These two characteristics can vary considerably, depending on the respective design. Whereas the quality of light is usually the focus of attention in the case of purely functional workplace lighting, the formal design of the lamp plays a fundamental role in the overall design of the lamp in the case of so-called lighting objects. For a sufficient documentation of the object it is basically necessary to consider both characteristics comprehensively. Due to the fact that most materials age at an accelerated rate as a result of electromagnetic radiation and heat, we refrain from commissioning exhibited luminous objects in our house – as far as justifiable – for reasons of conservation.
First of all, it must be stated that the collection is already catalogued; that is, inventoried. Only the technical characteristics of the luminaires; resp. the illuminants were marginally recorded in the data records. In view of the regulation of the Commission of the European Union, which came into force in 2009 and which will gradually remove incandescent lamps from the market, this project aimed to complete the missing information in order to define the need for action to preserve the lamps and at the same time to document the specific technical equipment in the best possible way. A data sheet was used to record technical details such as the number of bulbs, bulb and base shape, technical design, functionality and authenticity.
Cooperation partner:
– Hochschule für Angewandte Kunst, Wien
Bruno Paul
Skin transplantation in the museum
Project year: 2010/2011
The present project focuses on the unconventional conservation treatment of a group of three chairs, designed by the German architect, artist and designer Bruno Paul (1874-1968) for the Munich Vereinigte Werkstätten in 1906.
Upon entering the collection, it became apparent that the group of several armchairs had undergone more or less extensive reworking of both the wood surfaces and, most importantly, the upholstery of this furniture over time.
The discrepancy with the original design became abundantly clear through source study, on-site investigations, and comparison with a group of well-preserved furniture from the same series. Based on these findings, a strategy for an authoritative conservation approach was developed, resulting in a rather unconventional and unusual restoration, shall we say ‘transplant’ treatment. The coincidence of having both original material available, chairs of the same production number, and a conservation student trained as an upholsterer encouraged and supported this decision.
At first glance, the change of original and authentic material from one object to another may seem surprising. For us it was justifiable due to the series production. Through the Bruno Paul project, not only were two objects created that now represent the original design/idea and age, but also documentation and a closer look at early industrial manufacturing in the early 20th century Furthermore, with the reconstruction of the ‘virgin’ state of the black armchair, a piece of history became more tangible.
Cooperation partner:
– FH Hildesheim
Radio coatings behind glass
The consolidation of lacquer in the visible area
Project year: 2010
No. 14
A serial examination of the
Thonet chair No. 14
The bathroom chairs by Nana Dietzel
Overpaintings on a prototype
Project year: 2011
Cooperation partners:
– Institut für Restaurierungs- und Konservierungswissenschaften,
– Fachhochschule Köln
Colanis small series
Reversible airbrush retouching
on industrially produced plastic surfaces
Project year: 2011/2012
The orange garden lounger was designed by the Berlin designer Luigi Colani in 1967 and produced in small series using the hand lay-up process from glass fiber reinforced polyester resin. As a result of long-term outdoor weathering and improper cleaning attempts, the object’s surface underwent dramatic changes in the form of microcracks and graying, especially in the area of the backrest and the seat recess. In this project, the possibilities of reversible retouching, using airbrush technology, were investigated and evaluated on the basis of test series. Airbrush is ideally suited for retouching damaged, industrially painted surfaces, reducing dramatic material changes and thus allowing the visitor a holistic view of the furniture object. By applying a release layer, the ultra-thin airbrush retouching remains permanently reversible, while traces of aging, caused by everyday use, could be visibly preserved as acceptable signs of age.
Cooperation partners:
– Lehrstuhl für Restaurierung, Konservierungswissenschaft und Kunsttechnologie, Technische Universität München
– Institut für Restaurierungs- und Konservierungswissenschaften,
Fachhochschule Köln
Clay as design material
Technological investigations and concepts for restoration of early streamlined vehicle models
Project year: 2013
Models and prototypes, scaled down or full size, play an important role in the design process. There is a wide variety of materials and processes to visualize a designer’s idea. Depending on skill, knowledge, opportunity, and stage of development, this ranges from initial models made by hand from traditional materials such as paper, wood, clay, and plaster to more complex visualizations produced by machine using injection molding for rigid foam, computer numerical control (CNC) milling, or complex models created using rapid prototyping techniques. A common denominator is that most products that emerge from this early design process are not intended to last more than a few months. Instead of longevity, the focus is on workability, reworkability, availability, efficiency, and price.
Aspects that pose a major challenge for a design museum interested in collecting and communicating design processes, and which is committed to preserving these objects for future generations. When it comes to the automotive sector, our collection consists of real cars and motorcycles and, in relation to models and prototypes, primarily of models made of industrial plasticine, the so-called ‘clay’.
‘Clay’ is a permanently plastic, malleable, thermoplastic, putty-like material, made from fats, oils or waxes, inorganic components, combined with numerous additives. Heated up to 60°C, it can be easily deformed, allowing designers to create models to visualize a product and easily revise it multiple times. ‘Clay’ was first formulated by Franz Kolb in Munich in 1880 and is still available, known as ‘Münchner Künstler Plastilin’. Today, the Kolb company is still one of the most important suppliers to the automotive industry around the world.
Model making with industrial clay was first introduced into the automotive design process in 1927, when designer Harley Earl of the Art & Color Section of General Motors decided to use this material for his design studies.
Our automotive collection consists of nearly 30 models made from industrial clay, dating from the early 1930s to 2012. They reflect both the variety of combinations and the production methods available at their time.
The focus of this project was the technological investigation of the model collection
Koenig-Fachsenfeld. Baron Reinhard Koenig-Fachsenfeld was born in Stuttgart, Germany, in 1899. His passion for engines and car racing led him to become one of the world’s first aerodynamics experts. He collaborated with various car industries and experts, such as Paul Jaray, inventor of the streamlined body patent (1921). Fachsenfeld designed and optimized the body of several famous car models of the time, such as the BMW 328 and the Porsche-like Sagitta V2. He fundamentally redesigned the body of these cars with the aim of increasing their speed through an optimized aerodynamic shape. Today, his work is preserved only in a few prototypes, mostly made of aluminum. Moreover, one can admire and analyze his work in the industrial clay models he made while studying the possible improvements to the bodies. This group of 12 objects, made between the 1930s and 1940s, entered our collection in 1997. Most of them are in 1:10 scale, two of them are cutaway models.
The goals of this research project were:
– Researching the composition and processing of the material
– Documentation of condition and structure with the aid of imaging techniques
– Possibilities of conservation by comparison with literature research
– Definition of possible risks through handling and exhibition
– Final evaluation and concept of conservation
Cooperation partners:
– Doerner-Institut München
– Bayerisches Landeskriminalamt, München
– Alphaform, München
