This post was originally published on August 16, 2014. The Curwen Press got its start in east London in 1863 as a music publisher. The scope of the business expanded and in 1920 began including book publishing and artist prints. It was at this time that the Curwen Press made contact with the Royal College...

In the early twentieth century, designers often put their work out to sea. Le Corbusier, Swiss-French pioneer of modern architecture, wrote in his seminal 1931 treatise Towards A New Architecture that “a seriously-minded architect (…) will find in a steamship his freedom from an age-long but contemptible enslavement to the past.”[1] The next year, American...

Now that summer is upon us it is easy to envision the season’s warm breezes or the possibility of taking a trip to a tropical getaway. In this wallpaper manufactured by United Wallpapers we can at least have a convincing staycation. Cheerful blues, greens, and yellows adorn this upbeat paper which depicts figures relaxing along...

Wrapped in a warm summer haze, a pair of birds, at the center of the composition, overlook a flowing stream surrounded by a flower filled landscape. The famed Windsor Castle idly appears in the background, surveying the quiet scene below. Hushed yellows and greys, in addition to the creamy white background, create an almost ethereal...

Responding to migrant deaths along the Arizona-Mexico border due to dehydration, minister Robin Hoover (along with former Navy engineer Tim Holt) designed a system for placing water in the desert. Their project, Humane Borders Water Stations and Warning Posters, is featured in the exhibition By the People: Designing a Better America, curated by Cynthia Smith, Curator...

Liberty and immigration: here are values so intimately tied with the history of the United States and New York in particular, that they seem to permeate one another. The year 1974 was a strenuous one for the US. The recent end of the Vietnam War left open wounds still seething in the minds of millions,...

Access to clean drinking water, sustainable energy sources and changes in the environment are some of the challenges faced by many around the world. Designers, from the Australia to Bangladesh, are responding with innovative design solutions. The Smithsonian Center for Education and Museum Studies organizes a free online conference series on pressing environmental issues. This...

Why? Over 1.3 billion people worldwide drink unsafe water. Ripple Effect, a collaboration between the Acumen Fund, IDEO, and Indian and Kenyan water organizations, stimulates innovation among water suppliers. In Indias Thar Desert region, the Jal Bhagirathi Foundation developed a new business model to convince communities to purchase treated water. In the Andhra Pradesh region,...

Rick Cook talks to the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt staff. Cook+Fox Architects is a firm devoted to creating environmentally responsible, high-performance buildings. The firm has become known for innovative design at the highest standard of environmental responsibility and for their commitment to excellence enriched by the collaborative process. Rick's work has been showcased at the National Building...

Why? Water, the medium of life, has myriad manifestations. Furumai, meaning behavior or dance in Japanese, was an installation created for the Water exhibition at 21_21 Design Sight in Tokyo in 2007. The project consisted of paper plates treated selectively with an invisible water-repellent coating. As visitors interacted with the plates, beads of water danced...

A low cost UV water filter is making an impact in the field. Mexican non-profit Niparaja teamed with AquaStar and the local Technological Institute on the design of the low cost UV Bucket water filter. AquaStar/Meridian designed the 12V ballast that powers the UV lamp inside the UV Bucket, for use with solar panels in...

The show was conceived to begin a conversation and provoke discussion about the broad range of ways various organizations and individuals are addressing the underpinnings of poverty through design innovations. The selected objects tell a story and are windows into the numerous ways these groups are providing direct solutions. This blog will allow the discussion...