Cooper-Hewitt Will Pay Tribute to a Not-So-Heavy Metal

The Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in New York will open an exhibition March 20 on the role of aluminum in 20th century design.

Discovered in the mid-19th century, the metal’s ever-evolving practical roles in everyday life also will be shown.

“Aluminum by Design: Jewelry to Jets” will consist of four elements: “Inventing Aluminum,” featuring some of the earliest uses of the metal; “The Modernist Ideal,” examining application of aluminum in the early part of the 20th century; “Competition and Conflict,” covering the World War II period, when production of aluminum changed dramatically and “Crossing Boundaries,” including examples of aluminum’s multifaceted role in design today.

Among the 120 objects on display will be a cast-aluminum table centerpiece presented to Emperor Napoleon II of France in 1858, a 1969 Paco Rabanne mini-dress made of small aluminum plaques and a 1997 aluminum alloy Audi car frame.

The exhibition will run through July 15 at the Cooper-Hewitt, 2 E. 91st St. at Fifth Avenue.

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Green Design Furniture Co., based in Portland, Maine, will show its new Series 2 collection at the third annual Art Furnishings Show at the Pasadena Convention Center on March 3 and 4. Series 2, a blend of gently curved surfaces and tapered legs and edges, will include a new dining set. The price for the table and chairs is not yet determined; the company’s accent tables range in price from about $850 to $1,200.

Douglas Green, founder and designer, said, “The new line of the Series 2 Collection is still clearly related to my earlier Arts & Crafts-inspired designs. They are now more expressive of what originally inspired the Arts & Crafts movement . . . the subtle lines and proportions of Far Eastern architecture and decorative arts.”

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The Museum of Contemporary Art will have a double celebration in one evening. At the “Superflat Gala” on Jan. 12,

MOCA will honor architect Frank O. Gehry and board of trustees Chairwoman Audrey M. Irmas as it celebrates the opening of the new MOCA Gallery at the Pacific Design Center.

The MOCA Gallery’s “Superflat” exhibition will feature Japanese art, animation, fashion and graphic design.

The public is invited to a preview party at the MOCA Gallery Jan. 13 to celebrate the gallery’s official opening the next day. The “Superflat Saturday” party, with a $10 admission charge, runs from 8 p.m. to midnight. DJs Fantastic Plastic Machine and Susumu Yokota will provide music, and there will be a cash bar. For further information, call (213) 621-1734.

The MOCA Gallery is in the Pacific Design Center at 8687 Melrose Ave. in West Hollywood.

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Candace A. Wedlan can be reached at candace.wedlan@latimes.com.