Research into the aging of modern-age materials, such as synthetics, is an increasingly significant field in the restoration and conservation of cultural goods. Works of fine art, designer furniture and everyday objects were made – and continue to be made – from a variety of synthetic materials. Plastics and other synthetic materials are synthetic polymers that get manufactured and processed as solids, foams, adhesives and lacquers. Whether openly visible or unseen, they are present in some form or another in numerous objects from the 19th and, to a much greater degree, the 20th century.

The development of synthetics evolved from cheap substitutes for expensive natural materials like ivory and tortoise shell in the late 19th and early 20th century to an independent material allowing designers and artists to realize new individual ideas, especially in terms of form, color and function. The development of new synthetic materials to meet contemporary and future needs remains a thriving area of academic and industry research, using knowledge about predecessor materials as its foundation. Taking a look at the historic development, the following questions present themselves: What were the weaknesses of earlier materials? How long were the materials usable? What needs to be improved?

The preservation of earlier synthetics and associated products constitutes a challenge, one that only grows in importance as materials are threatened by degradation to the point they may no longer be around for future generations to experience. Idea, prototype, design and material belong together as a unit and should be preserved as a document of the recent past. Yet modern materials are degrading faster than had been expected. The degradation processes not only cause damage to the objects themselves, but the escaping decomposition products can also damage other objects in their direct vicinity.

The rate and nature of the aging processes for various synthetic materials are extremely complex and varied: They depend on the chemical composition of the material, on the physical processes occurring within it, on the nature and quality of the manufacturing process, on the quality and combinations of the source materials, on the individual object’s unique history and on where and how the object is stored (light, temperature, humidity and atmospheric contaminants). Of course, the specific conservation history should also be taken into account.

Taken together, all these aspects need to be considered in conducting an object-related restoration and conservation. Such object-related treatment presuppose proper identification of the material in order to, on one hand, make appropriate assumptions about the continued aging behavior of the particular type of synthetic and, on the other, be able to introduce conservation measures. The selection of conservation measures and materials, the regular monitoring of climatic conditions in the storages and condition reports on the objects make up the majority of the work of conservators.


In order to apply suitable conservation measures and materials, however, it is necessary to first conduct numerous preliminary trials on test specimens geared to the problems of aging for each particular type of synthetic. At present, such research work and experience are sorely lacking. To ensure that objects made with synthetics can continue to be experienced by generations to come, research efforts should be focusing on the development of active conservation measures. The Vitra Design Museum and AXA Art are conscious of this urgent need. As part of their initiative, a dedicated conservation studio for synthetic objects is being established at the The collection of the constitutes one of the largest and most significant documentations of industrial furniture design worldwide. The vast number of objects hence presents itself as a reflection of the range of technologies and materials utilized over the course of the 20th century and, here in particular, the synthetic materials. The challenge of maintaining this important document of the times is one that must be taken on and advanced.