From the Blog
In celebration of National Design Month, October’s Object of The Week posts honor past National Design Award winners. This post was originally published on July 9, 2017. This wallpaper by Geoff McFetridge somewhat resembles a circuit board with its minimal rendering of visual elements, but the title, “Lines Forrest,” clearly sets the record straight that...
As climate change reshapes the planet, how can design advance solutions that promote a healthy, sustainable future for all? In this salon, the inaugural winner of the 2020 National Design Award for Climate Action, Susannah Drake (Founding Principal, dlandstudio) for the Sponge Park, is joined by 2017 National Design Award winner Susan Szenasy (former editor-in-chief,...
In celebration of National Design Month, October’s Object of The Week posts honor past National Design Award winners. A version of this post was published on November 13, 2012. Eva Zeisel, a major figure in twentieth-century industrial design, won the National Design Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2005. Although best known for her contributions to mid-century...
Upcoming Events
Join landscape architects and 2025 National Design Award winners TERREMOTO as they discuss their newly released principles of radical gardening, a practice-wide commitment to creating “omni-positive” gardens that are deeply empathetic, ecologically restorative, and thoughtfully designed to support all living things at every scale.
TERREMOTO is a landscape architecture design studio with offices in Los Angeles and Berkeley California founded in 2012 with the intention of building gardens and landscapes that were explorations and investigations into ideas and culture. They create site-specific landscapes that respond to client needs while challenging historical and contemporary landscape construction methods, materials, and formal conventions. Spanning projects of diverse scales and typologies, TERREMOTO's portfolio reflects a belief that gardens can respond to the needs of all, and that this expansiveness gives rise to novel forms of beauty.
Kasey Toomey and Story Wiggins from TERREMOTO will be joined by Billy Fleming, interdisciplinary scholar of climate justice and design, for a conversation about how they translate their values into practice through landscapes that embrace process-based stewardship, closed-loop systems, and care for both human and non-human communities. Together, they will explore how gardens can serve as powerful tools for imagining a radical future built and tended with love.
Past Events
Join Cooper Hewitt for a talk with Climate Action winner Estudio Teddy Cruz + Fonna Forman—the latest program in a new series spotlighting the 2026 National Design Award winners in conversation with Director Maria Nicanor.
Teddy Cruz and Fonna Forman lead an internationally recognized research-based design practice working along the U.S.–Mexico border. Their winning project, UCSD Community Stations, is a collaborative network of civic spaces—co-designed with local partners on both sides of the border wall—integrating cultural programming, scientific research, and community engagement to advance climate resilience and social equity.
Due to inclement weather, tonight’s program has been canceled. We apologize for the inconvenience
Join Cooper Hewitt for a talk with Design Visionary Award winner Robert Earl Paige—the first program in a new series spotlighting the 2026 National Design Award winners in conversation with Director Maria Nicanor.
Paige is an artist, designer, and educator whose work disregards boundaries between fine art, craft, and design. A participant in the Black Arts Movement, Paige champions community engagement in art and culture, and his practice reflects a love of color, a commitment to design principles, and a belief in making art accessible for everyday people. Repurposing is central to his work, transforming found fibers, cardboard, and paper into new creations that invite others to embrace curiosity and making.
Join us for an American Sign Language (ASL) Tour exploring the National Design Awards with a special focus on the Emerging Designer category.
