Formica Corporation 2015
Formica laminate on panel
1,590 pieces
Formica laminate was first developed in Cincinnati and has been produced locally since the 1930s. The Evendale plant has been in operation since the early 1950s. Formica’s global network of manufacturing facilities has been owned by Fletcher Building, a New Zealand company, since 2007. In addition to its iconic high-pressure laminate, Formica makes solid surface material and other surface materials for a variety of applications.
This mosaic conflates two important parts of the manufacturing process of laminate into one image using thirty-four colors and patterns of laminate. In the foreground, Larry Stone and Lewis Hill operate the trimming station while Chris Ryles attends to one of Formica’s largest and most impressive machines, Press #28, which utilizes heat and hydraulic pressure to compress hundreds of layers of melamine impregnated paper into thin and durable sheets of laminate.
