Object of the Month

Object of the Month: Finnish Hop The Lindy Hop was a swing dance phenomenon, but the Finnish Hop? This lively design was produced by the artists’ collective know as The Folly Cove Designers, for its location near Gloucester on the Massachusetts coast. Many Finnish immigrants had settled there, attracted by skilled work in the granite quarries or the boat building industry. At least half a dozen Finnish immigrants or Finnish-Americans were members of the collective, including Eino Natti and Aino Clarke, who produced large numbers of textile designs. textile design, Virginia Demetrios, The Folly Cove Designers, Object of the Month, 20th century, American, dance
Object of the Month: Newsworthy Newsworthy combines age-old techniques with the modern notion of recycling. Woven on handlooms using the same technique as traditional grasscloth, the wallpaper is composed of 100% recycled newspaper and nylon filament. Object of the Month, wallpaper
Object of the Month: Knit and Run! Cooper-Hewitt just acquired Nike’s latest high performance running shoe, Flyknit Racer, which uses the most advanced knitting technology and only the most essential materials to create an ultra-light and fast racing shoe. The Flyknit Racer is the first pair of Nike shoes to enter the collection and was chosen for its innovative use of textiles as both structure and support. Object of the Month, running shoe, nike, Flyknit Racer, knitting
Object of the Month: Design for Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts This drawing was architect Rafael Viñoly’s presentation concept sketch for Verizon Hall, home of the Philadelphia Orchestra, as it appears from the west. Watercolors are an integral part of Viñoly’s working process, used in the early design stages to formalize his organizing concepts. Following the watercolors, more precise drawings present the actual resolution of the design. Object of the Month, drawing, watercolor, Rafael Viñoly, architect, Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, Verizon Hall
Object of the Month: Small Diamond chair by Harry Bertoia Known primarily as a sculptor, Harry Bertoia designed the Small Diamond chair for Knoll between 1950 and 1952. During that time, rather than do conventional design research, Bertoia conceived of a series of side chairs and lounge chairs for mass production, made of wire mesh formed into seating shells. According to Bertoia, “In the chairs, many functional problems have to be satisfied first. . . Object of the Month, chair, Small Diamond, Harry Bertoia, sculptor, Knoll
Object of the Month - February 2012: Knoll Textiles For over seventy years, Knoll has been a leader in modern workplace furnishings and textiles. Cooper-Hewitt recently added forty pieces of Knoll textiles and furniture to the collection, most of which were recently seen in the exhibition Knoll Textiles: 1945–2010 at the Bard Graduate Center Museum in New York. Object of the Month, textiles, Knoll, workplace, furnishings, acquisitions