Design Museum: Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum
Founded with the notion that design has a tremendous impact on daily life, the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum is devoted exclusively to historic and contemporary design.
The Cooper-Hewitt was founded in 1897, by Amy, Eleanor, and Sarah Hewitt, granddaughters of industrialist Peter Cooper. Originally a part of The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, the Cooper-Hewitt has been a branch of the Smithsonian since 1967.
Since the beginning, the museum has focused not just on showcasing design objects but on truly educating those who come through its doors. Regular educational programs continue the tradition and an on-site, degree-granting master’s program, created in partnership with Parsons The New School for Design, expands on that practice, preparing the world’s next design leaders for careers in a variety of design disciplines.
The Cooper-Hewitt takes on a special perspective as a learning and degree-granting institution. Its collections and vast design library are an enlightening resource for its students and visitors alike.
Included among the museum’s collections and library are everything from post-modern glassware to early wallpaper patterns, drawings and prints to global textiles, modular toys to Parisian parasol designs.
The museum also is developing a rather extensive website that allows one to view a good number of its design objects online. The Collections section of the website guides users through searches by exhibit, color, country, and more.
Housed in what is itself a lesson in design history, the Cooper-Hewitt’s collection fills the landmark Andrew Carnegie Mansion on Fifth Avenue in New York. The 64-room mansion was built from 1899 to 1902 and served as a home for Carnegie, his wife, Louise Whitfield Carnegie, and their daughter, Margaret.
In addition to the home itself, today’s visitors to the museum also benefit from Carnegie’s desire for space and privacy. The industrial magnate purposely purchased property far north of his peers, allowing for enough space to build a large private garden that can still be enjoyed today. The home also laid claim to several architectural firsts including being the first private residence in the U.S. to have a structural steel frame and one of the first in New York to have a residential Otis passenger elevator.
The museum’s complete campus includes two historic townhouses equipped with state-of-the-art conservation technology, as well as the garden and a beautiful terrace, not to mention more than 217,000 design specimens and a well-known library rich with all matters of design history.
For more than a decade, the Cooper-Hewitt has sponsored the National Design Awards, a well-regarded program created to honor innovation and excellence in American design.
The awards were launched in 2000 as an official project of the White House Millennium Council. The idea behind the awards, and the Cooper-Hewitt itself for that matter, is that design can, in fact, enhance our quality of life. In the museum’s words, “the annual awards program celebrates design as a vital humanistic tool in shaping the world, and seeks to increase national awareness of the impact of design through education initiatives.”
The museum is currently closed for a renovation that will allow it to open in a whole new light. The work will allow the Cooper-Hewitt to expand its gallery space by 60 percent via a new third-floor gallery and an expanded gallery space on the second floor. The addition will bring the museum up to more than 16,000 square feet of gallery space.
In keeping with modern advancements in designing for the built environment, the renovation will be LEED certified. The Cooper-Hewitt is scheduled to reopen in 2014.
Founding Sisters
The Cooper-Hewitt was founded in 1897, by Amy, Eleanor, and Sarah Hewitt, granddaughters of industrialist Peter Cooper. Originally a part of The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, the Cooper-Hewitt has been a branch of the Smithsonian since 1967.
Since the beginning, the museum has focused not just on showcasing design objects but on truly educating those who come through its doors. Regular educational programs continue the tradition and an on-site, degree-granting master’s program, created in partnership with Parsons The New School for Design, expands on that practice, preparing the world’s next design leaders for careers in a variety of design disciplines.
Curated Collections
The Cooper-Hewitt takes on a special perspective as a learning and degree-granting institution. Its collections and vast design library are an enlightening resource for its students and visitors alike.
Included among the museum’s collections and library are everything from post-modern glassware to early wallpaper patterns, drawings and prints to global textiles, modular toys to Parisian parasol designs.
The museum also is developing a rather extensive website that allows one to view a good number of its design objects online. The Collections section of the website guides users through searches by exhibit, color, country, and more.
Landmark Location
Housed in what is itself a lesson in design history, the Cooper-Hewitt’s collection fills the landmark Andrew Carnegie Mansion on Fifth Avenue in New York. The 64-room mansion was built from 1899 to 1902 and served as a home for Carnegie, his wife, Louise Whitfield Carnegie, and their daughter, Margaret.
In addition to the home itself, today’s visitors to the museum also benefit from Carnegie’s desire for space and privacy. The industrial magnate purposely purchased property far north of his peers, allowing for enough space to build a large private garden that can still be enjoyed today. The home also laid claim to several architectural firsts including being the first private residence in the U.S. to have a structural steel frame and one of the first in New York to have a residential Otis passenger elevator.
The museum’s complete campus includes two historic townhouses equipped with state-of-the-art conservation technology, as well as the garden and a beautiful terrace, not to mention more than 217,000 design specimens and a well-known library rich with all matters of design history.
National Design Awards
For more than a decade, the Cooper-Hewitt has sponsored the National Design Awards, a well-regarded program created to honor innovation and excellence in American design.
The awards were launched in 2000 as an official project of the White House Millennium Council. The idea behind the awards, and the Cooper-Hewitt itself for that matter, is that design can, in fact, enhance our quality of life. In the museum’s words, “the annual awards program celebrates design as a vital humanistic tool in shaping the world, and seeks to increase national awareness of the impact of design through education initiatives.”
Museum Renovation
The museum is currently closed for a renovation that will allow it to open in a whole new light. The work will allow the Cooper-Hewitt to expand its gallery space by 60 percent via a new third-floor gallery and an expanded gallery space on the second floor. The addition will bring the museum up to more than 16,000 square feet of gallery space.
In keeping with modern advancements in designing for the built environment, the renovation will be LEED certified. The Cooper-Hewitt is scheduled to reopen in 2014.