A grid of objects in Cooper Hewitt's collection, showing the breadth and depth of the museum's holdings. Objects include a chair, map, poster, stool and green lamp.
Acquired! Shaping the National Design Collection
Previously On View: Saturday, March 16, 2024 to Sunday, August 25, 2024

What does it mean to be a design museum today? Acquired! Shaping the National Design Collection highlights how Cooper Hewitt acquires new work to shape the collection to better reflect current issues and design’s evolving role in daily interactions. The exhibition features more than 150 works, including objects that represent the museum’s collecting legacy, as...

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Es Devlin, a white woman with dark hair wearing a vibrant red jumpsuit, appears miniscule in the center of a gray and white sphere with swooping gray arches and city skylines. The images on the sphere are mirrored, as is Es herself; a reflection of her extends upside down from beneath her feet.
An Atlas of Es Devlin
Previously On View: Saturday, November 18, 2023 to Sunday, August 11, 2024

An Atlas of Es Devlin is the first monographic museum exhibition dedicated to British artist and stage designer Es Devlin (born 1971), who is renowned for work that transforms audiences. Since beginning in small theaters in 1995, she has charted a course from kinetic stage designs at the National Theatre and the Metropolitan Opera to...

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Grid of various symbols appearing largely in black and white, with a few symbols marked in red.
Give Me a Sign: The Language of Symbols
Previously On View: Saturday, May 13, 2023 to Sunday, August 11, 2024

Give Me a Sign: The Language of Symbols examines the fascinating histories behind many of the symbols that instruct, protect, entertain, empower, and connect people. As important communication tools in our daily lives, symbols are constantly evolving based on new needs and users. They formed some of the first written human expressions and today animate our...

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People sit working at large textile looms in front of a high wall of shelves filled to the brim with vibrant and colorful yarn and other kinds of thread; another person stands and watches their work.
A Dark, A Light, A Bright: The Designs of Dorothy Liebes
Previously On View: Friday, July 7, 2023 to Sunday, February 4, 2024

American textile designer, weaver, and color authority Dorothy Liebes (1897–1972) had a profound influence across design fields, helping to shape American tastes in areas from interiors and transportation to industrial design, fashion, and film. The “Liebes Look”—which combined vivid color, lush texture, and often a glint of metallic—became inextricably linked with the American modern aesthetic....

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Three photos in a collage: From left, a young boy in a bright red shirt and black shorts and a teenage girl in a pink shirt and floral pants are seen riding a hot pink teeter totter on one side of a tall, rusty wall. Families crowd around the area observing the action and taking photos; top right photo shows clear plastic orbs filled with messages, which are being handled by men in camouflage attire; bottom right photo shows a large street installation reading in bright yellow, all caps "ACT NOW" and a symbol in the foreground. A group of people carrying flags and banners is visible in the distance.
Designing Peace
Previously On View: Friday, June 10, 2022 to Sunday, August 6, 2023

What would be possible if we were to design for peace? Designing Peace explores the unique role design can play in pursuing peace. Visitors will encounter a wide range of design responses from around the world that look at ways to create and sustain a more durable peace, and will be encouraged to consider their own agency in...

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Two visitors admire botanical models on view at Cooper Hewitt
Nature By Design: Botanical Lessons
Previously On View: Saturday, June 8, 2019 to Monday, May 29, 2023

Nature by Design presents distinct stories drawn from Cooper Hewitt’s collection of over 215,000 design objects. Throughout history, designers have observed nature, investigated its materials, and imitated and abstracted its patterns and shapes. Textiles, jewelry, furniture, cutlery, and more show how designers have interpreted nature’s rich beauty and astonishing complexity. Across scales from microscopic to monumental, and in forms familiar ...

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View of exhibition space with three framed artworks on a slanted table in foreground and colorful vases in a glass vitrine in background.
Deconstructing Power: W. E. B. Du Bois at the 1900 World’s Fair
Previously On View: Friday, December 9, 2022 to Monday, May 29, 2023

Deconstructing Power: W. E. B. Du Bois at the 1900 World’s Fair places decorative arts from Cooper Hewitt’s permanent collection in dialogue with 20 innovative data visualizations that W. E. B. Du Bois (1868–1963) created for the 1900 Paris World’s Fair to explore how design can both reveal and mask dynamics of power and equity....

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Sepia toned postcard with man sketching at drafting table with ornate fireplace in back. Top of postcard reads "Le Style Guimard"
Hector Guimard: How Paris Got Its Curves
Previously On View: Friday, November 18, 2022 to Sunday, May 21, 2023

Hector Guimard: How Paris Got Its Curves invites a new understanding of France’s most famous art nouveau architect, Hector Guimard (1867–1942). Guimard is perhaps best known for his designs for the Paris Métro stations (1898–1900) and private residences like Castel Béranger (1895–97)—both important commissions broadcasting the art nouveau style he was developing at the turn of the century. The repeated ...

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View exhibitions prior to 2015 on the collection site