Cooper-Hewitt mourns the loss of Red Burns, who was a pioneering force in shaping the interactive media world as a designer and educator. The museum was proud to honor Red with the Design Patron award last year, in recognition of her outstanding support and patronage within the design community. Burns was an arts professor and...
Sam Farber Courtesy of OXO It is with great sadness that Cooper-Hewitt mourns the loss of businessman and self-described “design junkie,” Sam Farber. The founder of the kitchenware companies Copco and OXO, Farber truly understood what design can do to improve the quality of life. He recognized that good design reflects not just aesthetic appeal,...
Niels Diffrient (1928–2013) Niels Diffrient loved many things, from airplanes to ice dancing. He loved his three children and his wife Helena Hernmarck, the internationally known tapestry artist. Encircling those close attachments was his abiding love for people. Human beings were the ultimate subject of Niels Diffrient’s world-changing career. Calling himself an “ombudsman between the...
A tribute to esteemed museum director Bill Moggridge, who passed away on September 8, 2012 following a battle with cancer. Hear about his pioneering work and influence in the field of design from Tim Brown and David Kelley of IDEO, Bernie Roth of Stanford University and Caroline Baumann and Cara McCarty of Cooper-Hewitt, National Design...
Eva Zeisel was 105 years old when she died on December 30, 2011. She was born in Budapest, Hungary, in 1906 and entered the Hungarian Royal Academy of Fine Arts as a painter in 1923, but soon decided that she wanted to become a “maker of useful things.” She apprenticed herself to a pottery master...
