look what we did!Innovations From Polyurethane Manufacturers

Polyurethane Vertical Gardens Are the Must-Have Architectural Feature

Striking, eco-friendly, and quickly becoming a fixture in buildings and homes across the world, vertical gardens — made using polyurethane — are the new architectural must-have indoor and outdoor feature for homeowners and businesses everywhere.

A vertical garden — also called a green wall or a living wall — generally consists of plants, stacked vertically on a wall, giving the effect of a living wall of plants. The wall can be just a few feet or several stories high and can vary significantly in width. Some vertical gardens extend the entire range of a large atrium space; others are only...

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In Hollywood, It’s Lights, Camera, Polyurethane!

In response to a demand from audiences for objects and scenery that look real, today prop houses, set designers and costumers are busier than they have been in years. Polyurethane is helping these creative artisans achieve the kind of authenticity on the big screen that movie-going audiences both desire and demand.

A CGI Backlash

For the past few decades, Hollywood has been experiencing a renaissance driven by computer-generated imagery (CGI). As the years have progressed, the technology has grown more and more advanced. Through CGI, it’s now possible to create huge cityscapes, entire worlds and — of course — all...

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Polyurethane Helps Make It a Spooktacular Halloween

In the race to have the spookiest house on the block, homeowners are deploying polyurethane-based decorations in their front yards. From jack-o-lanterns to witches to monsters of all kinds, polyurethane is showing up in all manner of Halloween home décor.

Decoration Spending Is Up

According to the National Retail Federation, Americans spent more than $9 billion in 2018 on Halloween. Of that amount, decorations was one of the largest spending categories, outpacing even candy sales.

This may be because in the spirit of one-upmanship, homeowners are turning to ever more elaborate decorations. Buyers in the market want home décor that...

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Polyurethane Outdoor Art Puts Family Business on the Map

From a tiny town in Nebraska, one small family-owned business is making iconic outdoor polyurethane art installations that can be found in cities across America.

Outdoor PU Artwork in Masse

You may not be familiar with Icon Poly, but there is a good possibility that you may have run into their work. Over the past 20 years, the company has churned out thousands of outdoor sculptures, consisting of polyurethane, fiberglass and foam.

A City Branding Device

Many cities use this kind of polyurethane outdoor artwork as a sort of branding device. The pieces are usually created on a large scale,...

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Remembering the 1970s Polyurethane Homes of the Future

Beginning in the late 1960s and lasting into the 1980s, a small group of visionary architects got tired of making houses and rooms that were so – ahem – square. Instead, these daring designers decided to go circular, dreaming up rooms with no corners, and houses, consisting of little more than a series of connected domes.

The Right Building Material

In building their dream dwellings, these intrepid designers turned to polyurethane to bring their designs to life. As a medium, polyurethane foam allowed them to achieve lines and curves in the building process not previously thought possible. The end result...

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Polyurethane Helps Usher in a New Era of Outdoor Art

Among high-net-worth art aficionados, a new trend is emerging that has masterpieces being created exclusively for life alfresco. Outdoor artwork often consists of grand-scale sculptures and installations that play with the landscape and elements like scenery, color and background.

In creating these commissioned pieces, artists are faced with a unique challenge. Their work must not only be creatively intriguing, it must also be able to withstand inclement weather, freezing or scorching temperatures and even pollution with little service and upkeep required.

While the construction of some pieces uses more traditional elements like steel, aluminum or brass, others are far more...

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Chameleon Paint Changes Color

Why paint your walls just one color when you can have an iridescent surface that changes color throughout the day or as you move about the room? Using the same mica powder that cosmetics companies use in eyeshadow, New York artisan Jonathan Kutzin has created a unique wall coating for homes and businesses.

The mica powder is mixed with clear polyurethane and then brushed onto a wall that has been prepared with white paint. Multiple colors can be applied to get the desired effect — from silver/green to a deep coral. The result is a shimmery coating that seemingly changes...

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Polyurethane Foam Transform Fabrics into Functional Works of Art

Industrial designer Idan Moskona experiments with materials including polyurethane, different textiles and wood to create sturdy and unique inflated furniture. As part of his project, Moskona injected polyurethane into an array of different fabrics, some loosely woven, and some tightly woven.

Playing with dyes, dimensions, and saturation, Moskona was able to create a wide variety of designs that look like a kind of free-form sculpture. For the bench shown above, a spandex fiber fabric was first set into a beech wood frame. Then, the polyurethane was pumped in and allowed to expand. The final result is functional, comfortable and...

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Happy International Museum Day

There is no better way to celebrate Museum Day than to take a trip to a nearby museum.

Did you know polyurethane is also a supporter of the arts? Literally. Many museums utilize polyurethane in mounting textiles. Polyurethane is commonly used to protect textiles from potential damage caused by a frame’s wood acids.

Next time you’re strolling in your favorite museum, remember that the unique physical properties of polyurethane make it a “go to” material for builders, designers, engineers, architects and artists who need museums and works of art to last for long periods of time.

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