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The Arthur Ross Terrace and Garden at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. Photo: Agaton Strom Photography

Design Across Time: Exploring the Smithsonian’s Design Collection
ONGOING

Grid of twelve objects showing examples of wearables, lamps, dishware, wallpaper, and seating that have changed over time.

Occupying the entire first floor of the museum’s Carnegie Mansion, Design Across Time expands public access to Cooper Hewitt’s collection and includes significant works newly brought out of storage. Through objects spanning time, geography, and discipline—including graphic design, product design, fashion, textiles, furniture, wallcoverings, digital design, and architecture—this exhibition highlights the breadth of the national design collection.

Design Across Time organizes the museum’s vast collection around thematic clusters to explore some of the many approaches designers use in their creative process. Designers Play and Tweak to experiment and iterate ideas. They Repeat elements to reinforce messages; Transform materials into sustainable solutions; Show Off craftsmanship to create objects of beauty; or Simplify complex shapes and information.

Learn more about Design Across Time →

MADE IN AMERICA: THE INDUSTRIAL PHOTOGRAPHY OF CHRISTOPHER PAYNE
ON VIEW through September 27, 2026

A photography by Christopher Payne

Made in America brings together more than 70 large-format photographs captured by Christopher Payne over a decade-long photographic journey to learn more about the craft of both industrial and artisanal making in the United States. His images celebrate the combination of human skill and mechanical precision that transform raw materials into objects as diverse as pencils, semiconductors, pianos, and rockets.

Learn more about Made in America →

The Substitute
ON VIEW through JAN. 31, 2027

The Substitute rhinoceros

Part of Design Across Time, Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg’s The Substitute is an immersive video and sound installation that digitally resurrects the extinct male Northern white rhino using artificial intelligence and state-of-the-art visual effects.

Learn more about The Substitute →

SUPPORT

Design Across Time: Exploring the Smithsonian’s Design Collection received major support from Jon and Shigemi Iwata, and Lisa Roberts and David Seltzer. Additional generous support has been made by Amita and Purnendu Chatterjee, the Lily Auchincloss Foundation, the Terra Foundation for American Art, the Arthur F. and Alice E. Adams Foundation, Irene Au and Bradley Horowitz, and Chris and Irma Fralic. This project received funding from the Smithsonian’s “Our Shared Future: 250,” a Smithsonian-wide initiative supported by private philanthropy and created to commemorate the nation’s 250th anniversary and advance the Smithsonian vision for the next 250 years.

Logos for the Smithsonian’s “Our Shared Future: 250," the Lily Auchincloss Foundation, and the Terra Foundation for American Art.

Made in America: The Industrial Photography of Christopher Payne received support from Smithsonian’s Our Shared Future: 250, a Smithsonian-wide initiative commemorating the nation’s 250th anniversary. Signature support for Smithsonian’s Our Shared Future: 250 has been provided by Lilly Endowment Inc. Additional generous contributions have been made by Target and New Balance.

Logos for New Balance

 

 

 

PHOTOS:
Wool carders, 2012. Photographed by Christopher Payne (American, born 1968). S & D Spinning Mill (Millbury, Massachusetts). Courtesy of the artist.
Still from The Substitute installation, 2019; Designed by Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg (British and South African, b. 1982); Animation by The Mill with behavior based on research by DeepMind; Paired video installation (projector and screen); 6 minutes 18 seconds; Museum purchase from General Acquisitions Endowment Fund, 2020-10-1.

Featured Image: The Arthur Ross Terrace & Garden at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. Photo: Agaton Strom Photography