How did road trips and X-rays lead to acquiring an exceptional eighteenth-century armchair originally made in Mexico?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...
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...
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...
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....
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...
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...
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...
Cooper Hewitt, in collaboration with the DesignSingapore Council present an evening of conversation.
Marilyn Friedman discusses her new book Making America Modern: Interior Design in the 1930s.