Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum is unveiling its permanent collection galleries with Design Across Time: Exploring the Smithsonian’s Design Collection. The landmark presentation showcases a selection of 125 works drawn from Cooper Hewitt’s collection installed throughout the first floor of the museum’s Carnegie Mansion. The exhibition provides visitors with a new thematic take on the collection and expands access to its vast repository of historic and contemporary design, including significant works newly brought out of storage, recent acquisitions on public display for the first time, and canonical objects of American and global design history.

The exhibition is rooted in the idea that design is everywhere, that it serves a civic purpose and that from small objects to larger systems, everyone is an expert user and active participant of the built environment.

Cooper Hewitt has been collecting design since its founding in 1897. The national collection now has more than 215,000 objects spanning six continents and thirty centuries, including product design, architecture, graphic design, fashion and textiles, wallcoverings, and digital and interaction design. From sketches and prototypes to finished products, the collection continues to evolve to represent new areas and ideas of our time, reminding us that design is constantly around us. 

This multi-year installation of the permanent collection, which will feature rotations of objects throughout its duration, is organized in six thematic clusters representing some of the many approaches involved in the creative process and often utilized by designers:

  • Play and Tweak to experiment and iterate ideas 
  • Repeat elements to reinforce messages 
  • Transform materials into sustainable solutions 
  • Show off craftsmanship to create objects of beauty 
  • Simplify complex shapes and information   

Cooper Hewitt’s collection is a public resource that belongs to all.  We invite you to explore it. 

The Substitute is on view as part of Design Across Time.

EXHIBITION HIGHLIGHTS 

ENHANCE YOUR VISIT

Enhance your visit with insights into the design process from designers and other experts featured in the exhibition. View the Bloomberg Connects guide online or in the free arts and culture app.

EXHIBITiON DESIGN

The dynamic installation is designed by JA Projects with graphic design by Pacific. From an introductory concentration of objects anchored in the central gallery, the exhibition extends through two dramatic axis vitrines that cut across the sequence of first-floor galleries. Combining a rich palette of textures from traditional and contemporary materials and leaning heavily on a graphic system of timeless collection object silhouettes, the display escapes traditional chronological readings. Instead, the presentation provides thematic groupings of a global collection that spans geographies, materials, and time periods, ranging from an ancient Egyptian lotus-shaped cup to the recently acquired Toots Zynsky vessel, Aurifero II (2023). 

ACCESSIBILITY 

Various resources are available to support your visit to Design Across Time. Image descriptions of objects on view are available on the exhibition’s accessibility webpage and in person in the Large Print Label booklet. Large-print labels and other sensory materials will be available for use in the galleries. Compatible in-gallery digital interactives will have screen reader capability. Learn more about accessibility at Cooper Hewitt. 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 

Design Across Time is organized by Matilda McQuaid, Acting Curatorial Director; Susan Brown, Acting Head of Textiles; Emily Orr, Acting Head of Product Design and Decorative Arts; and Julie Pastor, Curatorial Assistant, with the support of all members of the curatorial, conservation, registrar, exhibitions and director’s office departments. 

Exhibition design by JA Projects. Graphic design by Pacific. 

SUPPORT 

Design Across Time: Exploring the Smithsonian’s Design Collection received major support from Jon and Shigemi Iwata, and Lisa Roberts and David Seltzer. Additional generous support has been made by Amita and Purnendu Chatterjee, the Lily Auchincloss Foundation, the Terra Foundation for American Art, the Arthur F. and Alice E. Adams Foundation, Irene Au and Bradley Horowitz, and Chris and Irma Fralic. This project received funding from the Smithsonian’s “Our Shared Future: 250,” a Smithsonian-wide initiative supported by private philanthropy and created to commemorate the nation’s 250th anniversary and advance the Smithsonian vision for the next 250 years.

Logos for the Smithsonian’s “Our Shared Future: 250," the Lily Auchincloss Foundation, and the Terra Foundation for American Art.

 

 

 

 

On View
Now through October 22, 2028
See the Exhibition
Purchase your ticket to the museum.

Upcoming Events

Grid of twelve objects showing examples of wearables, lamps, dishware, wallpaper, and seating that have changed over time.
Curator Tour: Design Across Time
In this curator-guided tour of Design Across Time: Exploring the Smithsonian's Design Collection, visitors will explore a new thematic take on Cooper Hewitt's permanent collection. The exhibition introduces selections from our vast repository of historic and contemporary design, including significant works newly brought out of storage, recent acquisitions on public display for the first time, and canonical objects of American and global design history.
Event Date
August 12, 2026
Grid of twelve objects showing examples of wearables, lamps, dishware, wallpaper, and seating that have changed over time.
Drop-in Sketching in the Galleries
Experience Cooper Hewitt’s collection and exhibitions through drawing In this session, we’ll sketch in the galleries of the Design Across Time exhibition, which explores one hundred years of designs for sound. This exhibition is full of visual imagery to spark the imagination for sketching!   Drawing prompts, seating, and materials will be provided. Space is...
Event Date
August 14, 2026
HOW WE MAKE: ADAPTABLE wall storage WITH JENNIFER JUNE OF LOOSE PARTS
Join designer Jennifer June, founder of Loose Parts, for a hands-on workshop exploring modular design through wall-mounted objects. Using a system of interchangeable components, participants will create their own functional piece (whether a hook, a small shelf, or a hybrid form) designed to adapt to everyday needs. Working with pre-cut, pre-drilled boards, you’ll assemble your piece using...
Event Date
August 15, 2026
HOW WE MAKE: Repeating Patterns with Gina Gregorio
Join designer Gina Gregorio for a hands-on workshop exploring the power of repetition through collaborative block printing. Drawing inspiration from repeating patterns found throughout Cooper Hewitt’s collection, participants will use custom-made printing blocks to create dynamic patterned fabric. 
Event Date
September 26, 2026

Past Events

Design Across Time: Tell Your Story
Objects have the power to carry memories and spark conversation. In this all-ages workshop, discover how design can tell personal, family, and community stories.  Gain inspiration from the Design Across Time exhibition, as well as work created by participants in past Cooper Hewitt programs. Then, create and share a story of your own using everyday objects and studio materials.  
Event Date
August 1, 2026
Grid of twelve objects showing examples of wearables, lamps, dishware, wallpaper, and seating that have changed over time.
CANCELED: Design Across Time – A Conversation with the Curators
Due to inclement weather, tonight’s program has been canceled. We apologize for the inconvenience.
Event Date
July 21, 2026
Grid of twelve objects showing examples of wearables, lamps, dishware, wallpaper, and seating that have changed over time.
Curator Tour: Design Across Time
In this curator-guided tour of Design Across Time: Exploring the Smithsonian's Design Collection, visitors will explore a new thematic take on Cooper Hewitt's permanent collection. The exhibition introduces selections from our vast repository of historic and contemporary design, including significant works newly brought out of storage, recent acquisitions on public display for the first time, and canonical objects of American and global design history.
Event Date
July 15, 2026
CANCELED: HOW WE MAKE: BIOGLASS WITH FAN KONG
Join designer Fan Kong for a hands-on workshop exploring the language of materials through bioplastics and bioglass. Inspired by Gaetano Pesce’s Nobody’s Perfect chair, this session considers how designers and scientists alike have reimagined materials as active, transformative systems.  
Event Date
July 28, 2026
Family Program | Summer Design Series
Drop in to the museum on Wednesdays in July to flex your creative muscles, imagine new possibilities, and take on fun design challenges as a family! Check out inspiring and innovative objects in Design Across Time: Exploring the Smithsonian's Design Collection, on view on the first floor. On July 29, ITERATE like a designer and dream up a new take on an everyday object.
Event Date
July 29, 2026
Museum educator talking to and assisting a young child who is making something three-dimensional
Family Program | Summer Design Series
Drop in to the museum on Wednesdays in July to flex your creative muscles, imagine new possibilities, and take on fun design challenges as a family! Check out inspiring and innovative objects in Design Across Time: Exploring the Smithsonian's Design Collection, on view on the first floor. On July 22, PROTOTYPE a solution to a "carry it" challenge.
Event Date
July 22, 2026
Family Program | Summer Design Series
Drop in to the museum on Wednesdays in July to flex your creative muscles, imagine new possibilities, and take on fun design challenges as a family! Check out inspiring and innovative objects in Design Across Time: Exploring the Smithsonian's Design Collection, on view on the first floor. On July 15, COLLABORATE like designers and work together as a family team to design a restaurant or store, from soup to nuts.
Event Date
July 15, 2026
Two children sit at a table with their smiling mother and construct something out of materials
Family Program | Summer Design Series
Drop in to the museum on Wednesdays in July to flex your creative muscles, imagine new possibilities, and take on fun design challenges as a family! Check out inspiring and innovative objects in Design Across Time: Exploring the Smithsonian's Design Collection, on view on the first floor. On July 8, PLAY like a designer and experiment with paper as a building material.
Event Date
July 8, 2026