National Design Week

National Design Week: October 2–8, 2023

Launched in 2006, National Design Week is held in conjunction with the National Design Awards. This week-long series celebrates the important role design plays in all aspects of everyday life and features a range of in-person and virtual programs for all ages.

In October 2023, Cooper Hewitt celebrated National Design Week with free admission and special programming. See our recorded programs from the 2023 National Design Week below.

2023 National Design Week Programs

Suzanne Tick: Making Materials Matter — October 2, 2023

In conjunction with the exhibition A Dark, A Light, A Bright: The Designs of Dorothy Liebes, Cooper Hewitt welcomed contemporary textile designer and weaver who is equally acclaimed for her experimental approach to materials: Suzanne Tick. In this illustrated conversation with Susan Brown, Cooper Hewitt’s Acting Head of Textiles and co-curator of the exhibition, the program considers Tick’s designs, how she has helped build sustainability into the contract textile industry, and how her handweaving practice intersects with her commercial designs.

Communcation Design Across Generations — October 4, 2023

2023 National Design Award winners—Seymour Chwast, Design Visionary; Arem Duplessis, Communication Design; and Beatriz Lozano, Emerging Designer—in a conversation about how changes in communication design have shaped their work, as well as where they see the future of the field. Conversation moderated by Ellen Lupton, Curator Emerita, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum.

A Conversation with Kongjian Yu, Landscape Architecture Winner — October 7, 2023

Winner of the 2023 National Design Award for Landscape Architecture, Kongjian Yu is a globally recognized landscape designer, founder of Turenscape, and a founder of Peking University College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture. In this talk, Yu discusses his work and how his landscape architecture methods and ideas can help mitigate climate events such as flash floods, superstorms, and tidal surges. After a presentation of his work, Yu joins in conversation with Matilda McQuaid, Acting Director of Curatorial.

2023 Special Thanks

National Design Awards Partners

Shelby and Frederick Gans
Helen and Edward Hintz

National Design Awards Sponsors
Apple
Alexandra and Paul Herzan
Lisa Roberts and David Seltzer
Crystal and Chris Sacca

National Design Awards Patrons
Kimberly Schuessler
Richard M. Smith and Dr. Soon-Young Yoon
Jon C. Iwata
Agnes Gund
Scott Belsky
Champions Design
Heller Furniture
Bobby Martin
Thomas Robinson
Margaret Stewart

Design learning at Cooper Hewitt is made possible by eBay Inc., The Hirsch Family Foundation, The Milton and Sally Avery Arts Foundation, The Pinkerton Foundation, PwC Charitable Foundation, The Richard and Jean Coyne Family Foundation, with internal Smithsonian Institution funds from the Youth Access Grants for Youth Innovation in Rural America, and public funds from New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

National Design Awards trophies are created by The Corning Museum of Glass.