Formica

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Resopal ( suitcase word from Res [ina] , the Greek-Latin word for resin , and opal ) is the name for a laminate board in construction that is used in interior construction . A patent has existed since 1930.

term

In Germany, not least because of the entry in the Duden, the name has erroneously become independent as a generic term for a plastic or as a paraphrase for lackluster characters, which the material did not have back then (on-board kitchen of a zeppelin made of red formica) as it does today (modern furnishing and shopfitting projects) is fair. Because of its functionality and robustness, it is a particularly popular material for interior design among interior designers and decorators. It was mainly known for its use in kitchens, on breakfast boards or kidney tables from the 1950s.

material

Resopal is a decorative laminate that is manufactured as a high pressure laminate (high pressure laminate board ). The patent was applied for by Hermann Römmler AG in Spremberg on December 19, 1930 and granted retrospectively on June 6, 1935. It forms the basis for the industrial production of mechanically and chemically extremely durable surfaces with a long service life. The thermosetting aminoplast product was brought out by Römmler AG under the name Resopal.

Resopal consists of several resin-impregnated paper webs, core and decorative papers, which are pressed under heat and high pressure between steel sheets to form a homogeneous plate that is shock, scratch and abrasion-resistant, heat and light-resistant, stain-resistant, easy to clean and close disinfect, water, solvent and largely chemical resistant. Resopal is fire-retardant, insulates electrically and can be made flame-retardant, hygienic, acoustically effective, self-adhesive or magnetically.

The appearance of the board is determined by colored or printed paper, textiles, wood veneers, metal foils, etc. The surface can be given a tangible structure or different degrees of gloss. Resopal can be applied to various substrates (wood-based materials such as chipboard, mineral and waterproof substrates or lightweight substrates).

Buyers for the laminate board are u. a. Kitchen manufacturer (worktops, fronts). Resopal is also used in interior fittings, in wet rooms, in means of transport (trains, cruise ships), in hospitals, in shop fitting, in schools, in sports facilities and in laboratories. It is built into furniture and doors and used to manufacture floors. Formica panels with special weather protection are also used outdoors: They are used as facade or balcony cladding for a large number of buildings. And Resopal is even available again as a breakfast board, as it was in the 1950s.

brand

Resopal's triumphant advance has turned the name of a material into a brand name. Resopal was registered as a trademark on September 5, 1930. It shaped the German culture and product history after the Second World War. The aesthetic of the 1950s is inconceivable without Formica. The material, its aesthetic and functional quality, was the epitome of modernity.

logo

The brand owes its success back then to the graphic artist and industrial designer Jupp Ernst . In 1950 he designed the Formica logo. From then on he was responsible for advertising, trade fair appearances and decor development at Resopal. The active development in the post-war period resulted in a product brand that achieved a level of awareness of over 85 percent. Her broad-based branding helped her to achieve a memorable value that continues to this day. The Resopal brand, which has entered almost every encyclopedia, still stands for the cultural and historical furnishing aesthetics of the 1950s and early 1960s.

In addition to Resopal, there are brands such as Dekodur, Duropal and Sprelacart . When translating from English / American, the brand name Formica is often replaced by Resopal.

Companies

August Hermann Römmler founded the company on November 16, 1867 in Spremberg. In 1905, his son Hermann Römmler junior developed the production of electrotechnical insulating material such as hard paper and hard fabric to the point of series production using the plastics produced in the company . The electrotechnical department became independent and became the leading special factory for high-quality insulating material.

The conversion of production to the pressure-heat process is considered a decisive, immovable milestone in the company history of today's Resopal GmbH . Until 1931, the discovery of this process secured by the Belgian chemist Leo Baekeland the Bakelite -Gesellschaft exclusive distribution. During the same period, however, Hermann Römmler AG had developed a similar process and, since 1919, was the only German company to have a license-free right to joint use of the Baekeland patent. On December 19, 1930, Römmler applied for the Formica patent, which differed from Baekeland's Bakelite patent, and produced the first decorative panels. The galley of a Zeppelin airship was made of red formica.

At the same time, Brown, Boveri & Cie. (BBC) held a majority stake in the company before taking it over entirely in 1938. In 1945 the works in Spremberg were completely dismantled by the Soviet occupying forces. In 1946 the company resumed production as the insulation materials department of the BBC in the old sugar factory on today's premises in Groß-Umstadt . With the modern built-in kitchen and the kidney table , the immediate ascent was achieved. At the beginning of the 1970s, the company began the large-scale industrial production of postforming worktops and became the leading kitchen worktop manufacturer in West Germany. Due to the high level of awareness of the Resopal brand, the company was renamed accordingly in 1971.

In 1987 the Swiss Forbo AG took over the majority of the BBC subsidiary. In 1997 Resopal was bought by Premark FEG GmbH & Co. KG . Since 1998 the company has belonged to the global laminate manufacturer Wilsonart, Temple / Texas / USA, which is part of the ITW group ( Illinois Tool Works ).

In 2012, Resopal became part of Wilsonart International LLC , 51 percent of which is owned by fund manager Clayton, Dubilier & Rice and 49 percent by ITW .

In Spremberg, too, the production of HPL laminate was resumed after the war. The brand name Sprelacart also became a generic term in the German Democratic Republic for all laminates with decorative, hard and resistant surfaces, such as Resopal in the western part of Germany.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Duden
  2. ↑ Möbelfertigung 1/2014 of February 4th, 2014: From Dortmund out into the whole world - Dula relies on Resopal laminates for many projects . Pp. 104/105
  3. ^ Eva Brachert: "Household goods made of plastic", everyday plastic objects in Germany from 1950 to 1959 . VDG publishing house, Weimar 2002
  4. ↑ a b c d e f g Resopal GmbH: Perspektiven> 2018, Groß-Umstadt 2013
  5. ↑ Romana Schneider: "Something extraordinary and valuable" - A short cultural history of the material "Formica" from the last century to today . In: Holz-Zentralblatt No. 17 of April 27, 2007, p. 468/469
  6. ↑ Trademark register
  7. ^ Corinna Wodarz: Kidney table and petticoat - A stroll through the 50s , pp. 74–90. Isensee-Verlag, Oldenburg 2003, ISBN 3-89598-945-2
  8. ↑ Jaeger's catalog of the 50s. Anonymous design of a decade. Fricke-Verlag, Frankfurt 1988, ISBN 3-88184-093-1
  9. ↑ Romana Schneider: "Something extraordinary and valuable" - A short cultural history of the material "Formica" from the last century to today . In: Holz-Zentralblatt No. 17 of April 27, 2007, p. 468/469
  10. ^ Resopal: Harry Potter in Hessian . In: INSIDE Wohn-Markt-Magazin from October 11, 2013, pp. 6/7
  11. ↑ Eva Brachert: "Household goods made of plastic" Everyday plastic objects in Germany from 1950 to 1959 . Verlag VDG, Weimar 2002, ISBN 3-89739-257-7

literature

  • Eva Brachert: "Household goods made of plastic" Everyday plastic objects in Germany from 1950 to 1959 . Verlag VDG, Weimar 2002, ISBN 3-89739-257-7
  • Ingeborg Flagge and Romana Schneider: Original Resopal - The Aesthetics of the Surface / The Aesthetics of the Surface . Jovis-Verlag, Berlin 2006, ISBN 978-3939633044
  • Forbo Resopal GmbH: Resopal Compendium . Application and processing recommendations, technical information, tables and technical data. Self-published by Resopal, Groß-Umstadt, 1992
  • Forbo Resopal GmbH: Resopal manual. Application and processing recommendations, technical information, tables and technical data. Formica, Groß-Umstadt, 1992
  • Silvia Glaser: Formica . In: Historical plastics in the Germanic National Museum. Verlag des Germanisches Nationalmuseums, Nuremberg 2008, ISBN 978-3-936688-37-5
  • Gerd Ohlhauser: Living Surfaces , pure Formica: The Breitenbach house in Lorsch by H2S architects. Surface Book, 2009, ISBN 978-3939855088
  • Gerd Ohlhauser: Formica instead of material . Surface Book, 2008, ISBN 978-3939855095
  • Resopal GmbH: Autmundisstat - From Spremberg to Groß-Umstadt . Documentation from corporate development. From the series of publications of the Umstädter Museums- und Geschichtsverein eV special edition, compiled by Franz Knößlsdorfer, Groß-Umstadt, 2009
  • Resopal GmbH: Perspectives> 2018, Groß-Umstadt 2013
  • Romana Schneider: "Something extraordinary and valuable" - a short cultural history about the material "Formica" from the last century to today . In: Holz-Zentralblatt No. 17 of April 27, 2007, p. 468/469
  • Gert Selle: Design in everyday life: from the Thonet chair to the microchip . Campus-Verlag, 2007, ISBN 978-3593383378
  • Gert Selle: History of Design in Germany . Campus-Verlag, 2007, ISBN 978-3593384870

Web links