In this video Dr. Estevan Rael-Gálvez reflects on two blankets woven by his great-great-grandmother, Manuelita Cisneros. These objects form part of an immensely important extant group of nineteenth century blankets woven by Diné (Navajo) women who were enslaved by, or worked as servants in Hispanic households in the Southwest region of the United States. Combining...
Thanks to support from the Smithsonian Latino Initiative, we are thrilled to offer the entire film for free. For audio descriptions, please visit https://youtu.be/YZldXBwtuCk Set in the remote San Luis Valley of Colorado, Mud Frontier: Architecture at the Borderlands is a feature-length documentary film that follows design studio Rael San Fratello’s experimentation with 3D-printing technology and...
The 19th-century department store and its successor, the modern mall, have continually evolved to attract and keep consumer attention for decades. Critic Alexandra Lange and Cooper Hewitt curator Emily Orr examine design’s leading role in the development and cultural impact of some of America’s most impressive shopping complexes. Sharing stories from their recent books on...
Parsons School of Design/Cooper Hewitt Master’s Program in the History of Design and Curatorial Studies During the COVID-19 pandemic, designers, cartographers, and visual journalists visualized the invisible contours of an unfolding crisis. Organizations like The New York Times and Policy Map as well as individual artists and designers tracked the spread of the virus and...
Presented in collaboration with the Letterform Archive, San Francisco What is Bauhaus typography, and why does it matter? Take a virtual tour of Letterform Archive’s exhibition Bauhaus Typography at 100, and get up close and personal with little-known works from the collection of Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. Look at key pieces of graphic design...
Upcoming screenings: July 13: CLAY Festival, Silver City, NM September 21: Sydney Design Week, Sydney, Australia September 23–25: Monadnock International Film Festival, Keene, NH September 29–October 4: Prague International Film and Architecture Festival, Prague, Czech Republic October 7–15: FIFAAC, Architecture and Constructive Adventures International Film Festival, Bordeaux and Bègles, France past screenings: World Premiere: Architecture and...
Do you judge books by their covers? What makes you pick up a book or magazine? A successful cover design might allude to the content within its pages, invoke feelings, or communicate a powerful message. Designers make distinct choices to create this dynamic first impression and invite people to open the book. Join us for...
DesignING on the Front Lines | Season 2 In this virtual forum, designers and doctors talk about designing better services, PPE, public spaces, and more in the age of COVID-19. Presented by the Health Design Lab at Thomas Jefferson University and Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. Season 1 took place in summer 2020. Moderated by...
In this lecture, Dr. Bénédicte Gady explores the intersecting histories of the drawing collections of Cooper Hewitt and the Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris. Cooper Hewitt was founded as the Cooper Union Museum for the Arts of Decoration in 1897. It was deliberately modeled after the Parisian museum, which had been founded thirty-three years...
