Flowing forms of bright orange spread upwards, flickering across the four panels of this folding screen. The work, Fire-Orange, is one of a series of folding screens the American artist Jack Youngerman made beginning in 1978. Fire-Orange exemplifies how Youngerman, who passed away on February 19th at the age of 93, thoughtfully and creatively explored the nature and boundaries...

Author: Natasha Thorsen In celebration of the third annual New York Textile Month, members of the Textile Society of America will author Object of the Day for the month of September. A non-profit professional organization of scholars, educators, and artists in the field of textiles, TSA provides an international forum for the exchange and dissemination...

In celebration of Women’s History Month, March Object of the Day posts highlight women designers in the collection. Long before the space race and the potential of space travel, humans have always been fascinated with the stars as tools for better understanding our world and our place in it. Naturally, artists and designers also take...

During the 1950s and 1960s, television was a cultural force both in America and abroad. Milestones that included the Civil Rights movement, the Vietnam War, and the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II were broadcast across the world. Variety and music shows, which included “Ready Steady Go!” and “The Ed Sullivan Show,” drew youth to watch their...

This porcelain mug commemorates the day that the Soviet Union sent the first human into space. The mug features the date, April 12, 1961, that Yuri Gagarin’s launch took place and it depicts a rocket, embellished with gold, moving past an image of the earth. The mug was manufactured by the Dmitrov Porcelain Factory which...

This Soviet era trade catalog for toys was intended for non-Russian audiences, and was produced by the Raznoexport Company in Moscow. This firm sold all sorts of consumer goods of Russian manufacture for export; the text is in English and French. Textiles, rugs, tobacco, bicycles, cut glass, and building materials among other goods were marketed...

Cooper Hewitt curator Matilda McQuaid moderates a panel discussion about the role tools play in large-scale projects. Panelists including Paul Ceruzzi of the National Air & Space Museum, William Goodrich of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and Chuck Hoberman, artist, engineer, and inventor of folding and transforming structures, provide insight into how we use powerful tools...

Over the next months while the Design with the Other 90%: CITIES exhibition is on display at the United Nations Headquarters in New York several individuals whose own research explores the exhibition’s subject matter have been invited to write blog entries sharing their insights, related research and projects. – Cynthia E. Smith, Curator of Socially...

Cooper-Hewitt’s Design Watch Members visited Steelcase for a private tour of the showroom and sunset reception on the terrace overlooking Columbus Circle. Lew Epstein presented the trends behind media:space, the convergence of furniture and technology, changing the way we think of work spaces as collaborative “destinations”. Members also previewed the Cobi chair, featured in the...

The poster on the fence outside the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum showed a photograph of the Tata Nano with the caption “actual size.” That didn’t mean that it was easy to install for display in the museum, as you can see from this little movie (filmed by our media makers Shamus Adams and Alex Tibbets)....

Many families are still crowded into one-bedroom FEMA trailers even 2 years after Hurricane Katrina devastated the US Gulf Coast. The Building Goodness Foundation has been providing relief to these cramped conditions building extra rooms for storage or a living room, even an extra bedroom. Over 150 of these extra rooms have been built in...

Over the last three years, I have been seeing more convergence between various design disciplines. ReadyMade, Make, and Howtoons are using graphic design to communicate new do-it-yourself design philosophies. Companies like Blik are creating products that are graphics (and graphics that are products). Designers are producing tools and materials as well as end products. Casey...