(Reversed Volumes. Image credit: Mischer'Traxler, http://www.mischertraxler.com/projects_reversed_volumes.html) Welcome to the Design and Food journal! In this Research-in-Progress blog series, I’ll be testing ideas and sharing what piques my interest around design and food, part of early ongoing research I’m undertaking here at Cooper-Hewitt in preparation for an exhibition. I view this space as an important part of...

Anab Jain, founding partner of Superflux, discusses the influence of fantastical beliefs on her work, the structure of her business, and the designer's shifting role in 21st century "architectures of collaboration."

DesignBoost NYC was a two-day design conference held at Cooper-Hewitt in June 2011. Thirteen speakers specializing in everything from biomechanics to filmmaking addressed the conference’s theme, “Design Beyond Design” in this series of short talks.

Join Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum for a presentation and discussion on teaching graphic design with Ellen Lupton, Curator of Contemporary Design, graphic designer, educator, and author of several books on design including D.I.Y.: Design it Yourself, and D.I.Y. Kids. The presentation will offer strategies for explaining and teaching graphic design principles and ways to move...

Michael Bierut, this year’s winner of the Design Mind award, discusses the state of contemporary design with our National Design Awards winners: Tom Kundig, FAIA; Scott Stowell (OPEN); Ralph Rucci; Lucinda Sanders (OLIN); and Charles Harrison.

Curator Ellen Lupton uses concrete examples to discuss how designed objects and environments affect human behavior. Through objects from the past and present, she demonstrates how good design can solve everyday problems.

Giovanni Battista Piranesi, an eighteenth-century designer of architecture, elaborate Interiors and exquisite furnishings, boldly combined historical elements to create innovative designs that still resonate today. Cooper-Hewitt invites a panel of designers to discuss how, like Piranesi, their imaginative and often irreverent use of historical motifs invigorates contemporary design. This panel features: Anna Sui, Fashion Designer;...

Shoshana Berger and Grace Hawthorne, authors of Readymade: How to Make (Almost) Everything: A Do-It-Yourself Primer and Ellen Lupton, author of D.I.Y.: Design It Yourself lead a day-long celebration of “DIY” design, showing participants how to translate everyday materials into exciting new objects.