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Side, front, and 45 degree angle views of an ornately carved dark wood chair with green fabric cushion
Behind the Design | Take a Seat
How did road trips and X-rays lead to acquiring an exceptional eighteenth-century armchair originally made in Mexico? Journey with us to discover the design history of this fascinating object that responds to Englishman Thomas Chippendale’s influential pattern book Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker’s Director, published in 1750. While artisans from across the Atlantic adapted Chippendale’s patterns to...
One half of the image shows a wooden toy shaped like a giraffe. The other half shows Cas Holman playing on the floor with a young child.
Cas Holman: Design for Play
Cas Holman, designer and founder of Heroes Will Rise, and Cynthia Trope, Associate Curator of Product Design and Decorative Arts, discuss Holman’s work, education, creativity, and childhood. ABOUT CAS HOLMAN Cas Holman has spent the last fifteen years immersed in play, education, and imagination. Through her company Heroes Will Rise, she designs and manufactures tools...
Image of Sarah Vezina, who is pointing at a textile on a table. She has a red flower print dress, dark curly hair to her shoulders, and dark glasses
Design Talk | Trude Guermonprez and Lanette Scheeline: Breaking Boundaries with Design
In mid-twentieth century San Francisco, two women explored new directions in weaving and the design of fabrics and wallcoverings. Join us to discover the works of émigré Trude Guermonprez (1910-1976), an inventive and inspiring weaver, textile designer, and teacher, and her contemporary Lanette Scheeline (1910-2001), a Bay Area native who operated a successful textile and...
Image of Kate Irvin, who stands in the center of the frame. Brightly colored textiles hang behind her. She wears a bright blue flower print dress, has a short brown bob haircut and wears dark rimmed glasses
Design Talk | Dorothy Liebes: Unorthodox Textiles
Cooper Hewitt hosts RISD Museum Curator of Costume and Textiles Kate Irvin in a design talk exploring the experimental materials, novelty textures, and “vibrating” color palette in textiles generated by designer and entrepreneur Dorothy Wright Liebes (1897-1972), nationally recognized in her own time as America’s “First Lady of the looms.” Read more about Doroty Liebes....
Image of Karl Frisch- a bald white man, wearing a grey sweater and black t-shit, on the right side of the photo. He gestures with his right hand towards a projected image of the Sex Pistols' album cover for God Save the Queen. In his left hand he hold a microphone to his mouth.
Design Talk | Karl Fritsch: Jewelry on the Edge
Cooper Hewitt welcomed Wellington, New Zealand-based artist Karl Fritsch. Playful and tough, intricate and coarse, Fritsch’s avant-garde pieces challenge the concept of what jewelry, and sculpture, can be. Joined by Fritsch Jeanne Greenberg Rohaytn, owner of Salon 94 and Alexandra Cunningham Cameron, Curator of Contemporary Design.       SPEAKERS Karl Fritsch began his education...
Image of two women sitting in chairs on a stage. Both have microphones. Left: Margaret Gould Stewart, who has short black curly hair, black leather jacket, and a patterned skirt. She wears glasses. She appears to be in her 40s. Right: Jean Richards, who has short curly grey hair, a red cardigan and black pants. She appears to be in her 70s and speaks into the microphone with a smile.
Eva Zeisel: Life and Design Stories Spanning a Century
Cooper Hewitt celebrates the remarkable life and legacy of design giant Eva Zeisel (American, b. Hungary 1906–2011) with a conversation between Margaret Gould Stewart, VP of Product Design at Facebook, and Jean Richards, Eva Zeisel’s daughter. ABOUT EVA ZEISEL Eva Zeisel’s career was international in scope and spanned more than 75 years. Known for lyrical...
Supersonic: The Design and Lifestyle of Concorde
Lawrence Azerrad, Grammy Award-winning author of Supersonic, and Debbie Millman, National Design Award-winning host of Design Matters, have a conversation on the ingenuity and enduring creative legacy of Concorde, the world’s first—and so far only—luxury supersonic airliner. Supersonic explores the history, design, technology, and lifestyle of Concorde, the 1960s aircraft that could cross the Atlantic in under three hours. Yet, more...
Image of a panel discussion at Cooper Hewitt. ON stage from left to right are Hans Tan, Hong Wei Phua, John Christakos, Mikyoung Kim, and Vasso Giannopoulos
Thinking Through Making: A Panel Discussion
Cooper Hewitt, in collaboration with the DesignSingapore Council present an evening of conversation.
Marilyn Friedman wears a red suit, at a lecture during a design talk at Cooper Hewitt on Dec. 4, 2018
Design Talk | Making America Modern
Marilyn Friedman discusses her new book Making America Modern: Interior Design in the 1930s.