In his How High the Moon chair, designer Shiro Kuramata utilizes an industrial material, steel mesh, to give a contemporary interpretation to the traditional club chair. The shape and proportions are based on an established Western form—a bulky, deeply upholstered easy chair with a low back and deep arms—but here, Kuramata’s use of an unexpected...

In celebration of Women’s History Month, March Object of the Day posts highlight women designers in the collection. A 1954 article in Women’s Wear Daily announced the arrival of Patricia Smith’s novel jewelry designs, noting, “highly colored, glamorized nuts, screws, bolts and other industrial products make unusual anodized aluminum jewelry by the new firm of...

This very modern looking gold brooch dates to the 1870s. Its geometric form is comprised of cylindrical elements and tiny rivet-like bosses (round knobs, studs, or other protuberances). The symmetrical structure features a central shaft with two sets of ten small cylinders bundled around the center. Encircling these is a large beaded band at the...

Feeling nostalgic at the beginning of the New Year, well just the sight of this pencil sharpener will bring back memories of school days past, that curiosity and slight fear you felt the first time you put your pencil through the opening into the sharpener. What about the first time you emptied one and found...

This cotton quilt cover is based on The Legend of the Red Lantern, one of the Eight Model plays promoted during the Cultural Revolution in China, as they promoted the ideals of communism. (By the end of the Cultural Revolution, there were 18 approved plays and ballets.) The plot of The Legend of the Red...

Stainless Steel Gloss was designed by Reiko Sudo, one of Japan’s most important contemporary textile designers. Educated at Musashino Art University, she and Junichi Arai were the co-founders in 1984 of the Japanese company and store, NUNO, which produces textiles of extraordinary ingenuity and beauty. Sudo and the other designers at NUNO combine tradition and...

This textile sample was designed and woven by Marianne Strengell, one of the most important textile artists and educators of the 20th century. Strengell employs a moody palette of blue, violets and blacks, punctuated with a metallic sheen reminiscent of stars emerging at twilight. The warp is composed of wool and rayon, with linen, lurex,...

Industrial felt production at Brand Felt of Canada Toronto, Canada, 2008. Produced by Cooper-Hewitt with the cooperation of Brand Felt of Canada Fashioning Felt presents an extraordinary range of felt. From two-dimensional carpets to three-dimensional environments, each work reveals the virtuosity of both the material and the designers. The exhibition and book focus on felt...

One of 31 video segments featured in 'Designing Media', the new book, DVD and website by Bill Moggridge. More info on 'Designing Medi'a available at http://www.designing-media.com Blixa Bargeld has been leading an innovative industrial rock band based in Berlin for decades and has accumulated a loyal and enthusiastic community of fans. Working in the traditional...