Preservation of Plastics is a long-term project dedicated to advancing the conservation of plastics in order to support professionals in the field facing the significant challenges posed by these materials. Despite recent advances in the conservation of plastics and a growing number of research projects on the topic, there is still a need to better understand the aging and deterioration of these materials and to improve conservation strategies to preserve them. Therefore, this project, part of the Modern and Contemporary Art Research Initiative, aims to study a wide range of plastics to understand how to prevent or slow down their degradation, estimate risks, establish suitable approaches into their preservation and design appropriate conservation treatments. Read More

Repair Studies

Exploring materials and methods to repair plastics

Analysis of Plastics

Analytical studies on plastics in cultural heritage

Cellulose Esters

Investigating treatment options for degraded cellulose acetate and cellulose nitrate

Disney Animation Cels

Research studies on cels from the Disney Animation Research Library

Plastics in Design Collections

Investigating plastics in design collections

Case Studies: Treatments

Applying the research on case studies

German Democratic Plastics in Design

A research project on material, technology, and conservation

Plastics Reference Collection

Plastics samples and objects

Related Materials

Publications and websites

Image Gallery


Partial view of the 2013 exhibition Essential Eames: A Herman Miller Exhibition, co-presented by the ArtScience Museum in Singapore and Herman Miller in collaboration with the Eames Office. Photo: Courtesy of Herman Miller, Inc.

Page updated: June 2017