Designing Peace | Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

What would be possible if we were to design for peace?

Designing Peace explores the unique role design can play in pursuing peace. Visitors will encounter a wide range of design responses from around the world that look at ways to create and sustain a more durable peace, and will be encouraged to consider their own agency in designing peace through interactive installations, quiet moments of reflection, and opportunities for practical action.

PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS

Bold, yellow letters spelling out [Act Now] standing in middle of highway with large yellow circle with x-shape flat on the ground in front. Skyline and demonstrators in background — Extinction Symbol Designer: ESP Location: Global 2011-present Photo credit: © Martin Reis

Medium-skinned woman wearing teal hijab standing outside busy pedestrian area, holding rectangular frame around her head with written red, bold text [Harassmap] and white Arabic text. — HarassMap Designers (2010 launch): Rebecca Chiao, Sawsan Gad, Engy Ghozlan, and Amel Gahmy, with Justin Kiggins, NiJeL, and volunteers; (2017 launch) Rebecca Chiao, Sawan Gad, Engy Ghozlan, Hadeer Mohamed, and Alia Soliman, with Paul Barton, Noora Flinkman, Timothy Quinn, and volunteers Locations: Canada, Egypt, Mexico, South Africa, Switzerland, Turkey 2010-present Photo credit: HarassMap © Mostafa Abdel Aty

Close-up photograph of a pair of hands weaving golden bullets into a loom stretched with twine. — Maps (Bullet Rug Series) Artist: DETEXT Colombia, Guatemala, Lebanon, Mexico, Spain, United States (countries where bullet casings have been collected) 2013-present Photo credit: Rodrigo Pereda

Digital rendering of a large, open-walled cement structure that opens onto a serene waterside promenade. — My Ancestors’ Garden Designer: Hood Design Studio Collaborators: Pei Cobb Freed & Partners Clients: International African American Museum, City of Charleston Location: Charleston, South Carolina, USA 2022 (projected opening) Photo credit: © Hood Design Studio

Large, door-sized posters are plastered along the outside wall of a relatively rundown building. — Paper Monuments Designers: Colloqate Design Partners: local civic and cultural organizations Location: New Orleans, Louisiana, USA 2017-20 Photo credit: Chris Daemmrich

Digital rendering of a large circular canopy structure carved with many different people’s names. — Peace Pavilion Design Team: Collaborative Architecture Collaborators: Arup, Landscape India, Suranjana Satewalker, Kapil Suralekar Associates, Shibu Raman Client: Government of India Location: New Delhi, India 2017 Photo credit: © Collaborative Architecture

A woman is seated using a sewing machine in a workshop filled with colorful bags. — Safe Passage Bags Workshop Designers: Lesvos Solidarity Collaborators: Humade Crafts Location: Lesbos (Lesvos in Greek), Greece 2015-present Photo credit: Cynthia E. Smith © Smithsonian

A few brown-skinned children sit and smile on hot pink teeter-totters, the other end of the teeter-totters not visible beyond the tall metal fence that they run through. — Teeter-Totter Wall Designers: Ronald Rael, Virginia San Fratello, Rael San Fratello Collaborators: Collectivo Chopeke Locations: Anapra, Chihuahua, Mexico and Sunland Park, New Mexico, USA 2019 Photo credit: Ronald Rael and Virginia San Fratello

Clear plastic orbs, filled with photos and messages, are being opened and handled by men in camouflage attire. — Christmas Operations Campaigns: Operation Christmas, Rivers of Light, Operation Bethlehem, Mother’s Voice Designer: MullenLowe SSP3 Collaborator: Colombian Ministry of Defense’s Program of Humanitarian Attention to the Demobilized Location: Colombia 2010-2013 Photo credit: SSP3/Juan Pablo Garcia, Carlos Andrés Rodriguez

Publication

The accompanying publication, Designing Peace: Building a Better Future Now, is an intersectional snapshot of the actions—culturally diverse and wide-ranging in scale—that are currently in play around the world.

Offering perspectives on peace through essays, interviews, critical maps, project profiles, data visualizations, and art, this book conveys the momentum that design can gain in effecting a peace-filled future.

Available at SHOP Cooper Hewitt.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This exhibition was organized by Cynthia E. Smith, Curator of Socially Responsible Design, with Caroline O’Connell, Curatorial Assistant.

Exhibition design by Höweler + Yoon Architecture. Exhibition graphics by Common Name.

SUPPORT

Designing Peace is made possible with lead support from

Major support is provided by Lisa Roberts and David Seltzer.

Generous support is also provided by the Lily Auchincloss Foundation, Helen and Edward Hintz, and the Barbara and Morton Mandel Design Gallery Endowment Fund.

Additional support is provided by Agnes Gund, the Consulate General of the Netherlands in New York as part of the Dutch Culture USA program, the Cooper Hewitt Master’s Program Fund, the Netherland-America Foundation, the Norwegian Consulate General, and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

In-kind support is provided by Tretford Americas and Consolidated Flooring.