High school students—we have a question (and an opportunity) for you! ⬇️
What would you design to help everyone feel at home in your community?
The 2025 National High School Design Competition challenges students to use design to help everyone feel at home in their communities. Think about small tweaks that can improve daily life or larger changes that can have a broad impact. Draw on your unique experiences and knowledge of your community—whether it’s your neighborhood, school, social group, or another element of your life. You might address topics like comfort, unstable housing, environmental impacts, or accessibility. Consider various design approaches, including architecture, urban planning, user interface design, fashion, product design, and more.
The competition is open to all high school students in grades 9 through 12, or who are homeschooled students working toward a high school degree anywhere in the United States.
Click the link to learn more and get started on your entry! The deadline to submit is February 10: https://s.si.edu/34BeEbP
With inventiveness and wit, artist and designer Liam Lee and artist Tommy Mishima critically examine Andrew Carnegie’s rise to power, networks of access, and philanthropic strategies through their installation, “Game Room,” part of “Making Home—Smithsonian Design Triennial.”
Here, Lee discusses the many influences on his work, from German poet and philosopher Johan Wolfgang von Goethe’s “Metamorphosis of Plants,” to the additive nature of wool.
Learn more about “Game Room,” and plan your visit to experience “Making Home,” on view now through August 2025: https://s.si.edu/3OMdwpD
Meet "Making Home—Smithsonian Design Triennial" Participant La Vaughn Belle
🏡 Meet “Making Home—Smithsonian Design Triennial” participant La Vaughn Belle, a multidisciplinary artist whose work focuses on the often-forgotten colonial narratives embedded in the architecture and material culture of contemporary society.
For the entryway to the museum, Belle designed “The House That Freedoms Built,” three structures inspired by the shapes of 18th-century houses built by formerly enslaved people who negotiated their freedom and were allowed to settle in Christiansted, Saint Croix.
🔗 Click the link to learn more about Belle’s work, which is on view in “Making Home” at Cooper Hewitt through August 2025: https://s.si.edu/4923ABN
Have a seat in one of these iconic chairs from our permanent collection. 🪑
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1. Slice armchair, 1999; Designed by Mathias Bengtsson; plywood.
2. Favela Chair, 2003; Designed by Estudio Campana.
3. Café Chair from “Transplastic” collection, 2006; Designed by Estudio Campana.
4. Dedar Roping Stool, 2011; Designed by Stephen Burks.
5. High Sticking Chair, 1992; Designed by Frank Gehry; Manufactured by Knoll Textiles.
’Tis the (technicolor) season! Happy holidays from all of us at Cooper Hewitt. ✨
The museum is closed today and will reopen tomorrow, December 26.
#NationalDesignWeek kicks off today at Cooper Hewitt—enjoy talks, tours, and free museum admission all week! ✨ Here are all the can’t-miss events happening through October 8th: https://s.si.edu/3BZv6B9
Can’t wait to welcome you all. 👋
2023 National Design Award Winners
Today we are thrilled to announce the winners of the 2023 National Design Awards!
These winners are recognized for the innovation and impact of their work across the design fields:
◼️ Seymour Chwast, Design Visionary
◼️ Biocement Tiles by Biomason, Climate Action
◼️ Beatriz Lozano, Emerging Designer
◼️ nARCHITECTS, Architecture
◼️ Arem Duplessis, Communication Design
◼️ Clement Mok, Digital Design
◼️ Naeem Khan, Fashion Design
◼️ The Archers, Interior Design
◼️ Kongjian Yu, Landscape Architecture
◼️ Atlason, Product Design
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Special thanks to our jurors Dung Ngo (chair), Tiffany Chu, Carla Fernández Tena, Noah Schwarz, and Sara Zwede.
Meet the winners: https://www.cooperhewitt.org/national-design-awards/2023-national-design-award-winners/
What Emoji Are Missing from Your Keyboard?
What emoji are missing from your keyboard?
This #WorldEmojiDay, see how emoji have expanded to reflect and represent the diversity of our world.
This video is part of "Give Me a Sign: The Language of Symbols," on view at Cooper Hewitt. The exhibition examines the fascinating histories behind many of the symbols that instruct, protect, entertain, empower, and connect people.
Dorothy Liebes Samples
Nothing more satisfying than sifting through Liebes samples! We’re preparing for our monographic exhibition on Dorothy Liebes, one of the most influential designers of the 20th century! Curators and conservators are checking samples of Liebes, lovingly kept in our collection, and selecting them based on display criteria, such as texture, color, material, and—of course—GLITTER ✨
“A Dark, A Light, A Bright: The Designs of Dorothy Liebes” opens July 7, more here: https://www.cooperhewitt.org/events/current-exhibitions/upcoming-exhibitions/
Sampler conservation
How do we care for samplers? Some of you have asked during our Sunday Samplers series how we care for, store, and preserve the many samplers we have in the collection. Our wonderful textile conservator Janet Lee will show you how we do it, with an interesting sampler that has an unusual feature!
Deconstructing Power part 3
"How shall we answer these slanders?" These are the resonant words of Thomas J. Calloway, one of the organizers of the American Negro Exhibition at the 1900 Paris World's Fair, when faced with racist stereotypes perpetuated by the press at home and abroad. Hear from curator Devon Zimmerman (@dqzimmer) how W. E. B. Du Bois created data visualizations to provide that answer.
"Deconstructing Power: W. E. B. Du Bois at the 1900 World's Fair" is on view now. Reserve tickets online for a discount: https://s.si.edu/webdubois
Deconstructing Power part 2
For #BlackHistoryMonth we'll be posting from our exhibition "Deconstructing Power." The pioneering work of W. E. B. Du Bois sought to reframe colonial/imperial notions of "progress" by documenting the achievements of Black Americans since emancipation.
Find out more about our exhibition here: https://s.si.edu/webdubois