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Image features a black desk lamp consisting of a small rectilinear bulb housing with reflector supported by two pairs of counter-weighted adjustable arms set on a swiveling cylindrical base with cooling slots and a red plastic on/off switch. Please scroll down the read the blog post about this object.
So Much Light Cast, So Little Space Used
In 1970, aeronautical engineer Ernesto Gismondi and architect Sergio Mazza, co-founders of the lighting manufacturer Artemide, asked industrial designer Richard Sapper to design a desk lamp. A year later Sapper presented them with the Tizio lamp, a product that met his own needs. “I wanted a work lamp with a wide range of movement, but...
Image features an off-white rectangular speaker, the front with two rows of vertical slits; left and right sides faced with square, blond wood panels. Please scroll down to read the blog post about this object.
“Less, but better”
In celebration of our new exhibition The Senses: Design Beyond Vision, this Object of the Day post explores the multisensory experience of an object in Cooper Hewitt’s permanent collection. Dieter Rams, Chief Design Officer for German consumer products manufacturer Braun AG from 1961-95, designed the neutral and unassuming L1 speaker in 1957. Influenced by Braun’s...
Image features a low wooden stool consisting of a thick circular seat on three splayed, tapering legs, rectangular in section. Please scroll down to read the blog post about this object.
Musing on Materials
In a 1929 article for The Studio, Charlotte Perriand, the designer of this stool, wrote polemically about the advantages of using metal over wood, noting its utilitarian and aesthetic value. She said, “Metal plays the same part in furniture as cement has done in architecture. It is a Revolution.”[1] Her now-iconic B306 chaise longue made...
Image features a C-shaped bracelet with large oval crystal stone clasp. Please scroll down to read the blog post about this object. Please scroll down to read the blog post about this object.
The First Lady of Scandinavian Design
In celebration of Women’s History Month, March Object of the Day posts highlight women designers in the collection. This cuff-like bracelet with large oval stone clasp was designed by Vivianna Torun Bülow-Hübe in 1968. It is made of silver and rutilated smoky quartz. The bracelet’s simple form is emblematic of Torun’s philosophy that jewelry should...
Tischsuper, but not Kitschsuper: Dieter Rams’ RT 20 Radio for Braun
From the exhibition, industrial designer Dieter Rams' 1961 portable radio.
Addition By Subtraction
2003 National Design Award winner Lella Vignelli passed away December 21, 2016. In honor of her memory, we are sharing an Object of the Day blog post from earlier this year dedicated to her design philosophy. Lella Vignelli has spent a lifetime as a designer examining the ongoing expressions of pure, modern form. Working in...
Modernism in a Milk Jug
Functionalism is the idea that form should follow function; objects should be designed simply, honestly, and directly. [1] It should be immediately clear to a viewer and a user what the object is and how to use it. Functionalist objects are primarily domestic objects, which makes this milk jug an example of Functionalism in inter-war...
Designing Media – Chad Hurley
This is the second interview in Chapter 3 in my new book, Designing Media Chad Hurley, December 2008 I’m looking forward very much to interviewing Chad Hurley on Thursday March 24th, in one of “Bill’s Design Talks” at the Cooper-Hewitt. When I interviewed him for Designing Media, he started with a large cup of Peet’s...
Designing Media – Craig Newmark
This is the second interview in Chapter 2 in my new book, Designing Media Craig Newmark, December 2008 Who hasn’t heard of Craigslist, the Web site that has dramatically altered the classified advertising universe with its largely free want ads and for-sale postings? At the end of 2008, the site operated in 55 countries and...