Copper has historically been identified in relation to human health. With the onset of the pandemic, copper has been played up as a miracle material for a different talent: its ability to destroy microbes. A voltaic pile on display in the Tempio Voltiano (the Volta Temple). The buildings of the US National Security Agency in Fort Meade, Maryland use copper sheathing to stop spying radio signals from entering through the walls. Conversely, copper has also been used to interfere with electronic signals. Copper was an essential element in the first true battery, invented in 1800, and in IBM’s first computer chip, developed 197 years later. Copper printing plate with jewellery designs, by Nicolaus Mensma, 1747 (V&A: E.3552-2004)Įlectronics have also taken advantage of copper’s natural conductivity. Printing presses used engraved copper plates to print illustrations and bronze (an alloy of copper and tin) matrices were used for casting metal type. Above ground, copper was used as roofing for Grecian temples, ship cladding, and took off in the 19 th century as a material for interior and exterior building elements. Copper has been used as piping in city infrastructure since at least 2,750BC (where it has been found at a funerary complex in Northern Egypt), and many of the pipes that carry water in the UK today are still made of copper, which has been shown to help with water purification. Copper is easily cast and malleable, making it the perfect material for a variety of design applications. Before the twenty-first century, copper was used primarily for its mechanical properties. (V&A National Art Library: 38041800898231)ĭesign has a long history with copper, mostly placing function at the fore. But how much of this is true, and how have designers in the past balanced the relationship between copper’s utility and its aesthetic allure? Copper Tubing (Brochure), Copper Development Association, London, 1936. The implicit idea was that you can fight the virus with copper and look good doing it. As a result, between March and July 2020, it had a 50% growth surge on the London Metal Exchange. During the pandemic, copper also became championed for its anti-bacterial properties. Although it has a millennia-old history of use, it has become in particular a design darling of the last few years, coveted for its sleek reddish tone which looks great on everything from lamps to luxury apartments. When you search for copper as a material in the V&A collections, there are 2,116 objects that contain it, including a seventh-century ewer and Thomas Heatherwick’s 2012 Olympic cauldron.
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