Water carafes decorated with the outlines of Austrian lakes, rivers and glaciers, designed by Mark Braun for Lobmeyer. Exhibited at Vienna Design Week 2010. Tonight at the Cooper-Hewitt, Thomas Geisler will speak about contemporary design work in Austria, including Viennese tableware, 20th century and contemporary design. Thomas is design curator at the Museum of Applied...
On Friday, September 3, 2010, Cooper-Hewitt opened “Recent Acquisitions: Digital Typography,” an installation of five graphic works exploring the evolution of post-modern type design, organized by curator Gail Davidson. In this series of blog posts, Ellen Lupton continues the conversation with brief commentary on contemporary digital typefaces. One of the pieces featured in...
Over the past several weeks, I explored the Cooper-Hewitt Museum Design Museum Library’s collection of illustrated children’s books as part of the Arts Intern program through Studio in a School. During my time in the Library, I have discovered seemingly endless treasures in the children’s book collection, including a vast range of illustrative styles,...
The third of the grand challenges posed by Secretary Wayne Clough for the new strategic plan of the Smithsonian is explained by the sentence: “As a steward and ambassador of cultural connections, with a presence in some 100 countries and expertise and collections that encompass the globe, we will build bridges of mutual respect, and...
Phil Patton Design Watch Members of the Museum had a preview of the 2010 New York International Automobile Show this week. Phil Patton led the group – he’s the design critic and author who knows lots about whatever moves you and writes the Wheels blog for NYTimes.com. As he guided us from one example to...
Last night at Cooper-Hewitt, Washington Post Style Editor Robin Givhan lead a conversation with past National Design Award Winners Francisco Costa (Women’s Creative Director of Calvin Klein Collection), Yeohlee Teng, and Maria Cornejo about their work and the role of fashion in contemporary culture. Their designs are all featured in Design USA: Contemporary Innovation, which...
Design Watch Members recently explored the international design and contemporary art scene in Miami, including exclusive private collection visits and special events with design luminaries. Inside Design Miami/ Stops included: Cristina Grajales, Droog, Moss, R20th Century, and Gallery R’Pure/François Azambourg Exploring the Design District at Dacra and the new de la Cruz Collection Contemporary Art...
Personally, I am partial to Richard Meier’s approach to architecture. According to Meier, a building is an act of “willful artificiality;” a “man-made” spatial construct that functions as a receptacle for experiencing the world of nature. Meier’s white walls act as nature’s film screen capturing ever-changing patterns of reflected color and light. While Meier credits...
During a visit to Cooper-Hewitt about a year and a half ago, West-coast felt-maker Janice Arnold was intrigued by the form of the museum’s conservatory. Its domed roof and iron mullions resemble the radiating struts of the framework of a yurt—the circular tent dwelling of the nomadic tribes who first created felt. Next week, Arnold...
