by Kristen Depken
Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum is unique not only for its holdings – the only museum in the country devoted solely to contemporary and historic design, it features a variety of drawings, prints, graphic arts, product design, textiles, decorative arts, and wallcoverings – but also for its extensive design library and its rotating series of exhibits, not to mention the fabulous mansion in which they’re housed.
Founded in 1897, Cooper-Hewitt has made its home at the Andrew Carnegie Mansion since 1976. The 64-room mansion, built by Carnegie and his wife from 1899 to 1902, is quite possibly the most magnificent aspect of the museum and a true testament to Cooper-Hewitt’s commitment to design. The mansion, located on Fifth Avenue at 91st Street, is majestic with its Georgian-style architecture, grand wood-paneled foyer, sweeping staircase, and large private garden, setting the perfect backdrop for an institution dedicated to architecture and design.
With more than 250,000 design pieces in Cooper-Hewitt’s collection, the museum’s permanent holdings are housed in various wings of the mansion, all of which are open to visitors by advance appointment only. Meanwhile, the main portion of the mansion is open to the public and devoted exclusively to a series of rotating exhibits that provide casual visitors a glimpse into the world of design. Currently on display at Cooper-Hewitt are four distinct exhibits that focus on very different aspects of design. |
The first of the museum’s current exhibits is “Piranesi as Designer”, which features the work of Giovanni Battista Piranesi, a Victorian-era architect whose work has influenced many of today’s most prominent designers. Heavily influenced by early Roman, Greek, and Egyptian architecture, Piranesi’s designs were a combination of the classical and the modern, and highly innovative for his time. The Piranesi exhibit features many original drawings and etchings by Piranesi, as well as decorative objects like vases, urns, and candelabra, and pieces of furniture such as an exquisite pier table and chimneypiece. All showcase Piranesi’s ornate, imaginative style, crisp attention to detail, and innovative use of classical themes, while also commenting on his own influences as well as the influences he has had on other architects over the years. “Piranesi as Designer” is on display now through January 20, 2008.
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| Next door to the Piranesi exhibit on the mansion’s first floor is “IDEO Selects: Works from the Permanent Collection”, a small but fascinating exhibit in which the design firm IDEO has selected several works from Cooper-Hewitt’s permanent collection that best represent the idea of “design thinking”. For example, the Valentine portable typewriter, developed in 1969, is a lightweight typewriter with bright plastic casing that enabled it to be carried about easily and fashionably. It was designed as a more casual, personalized alternative to the dull, heavy machinery of the 1960s and sold quite well as a result. |  | | Meanwhile, the Silver Streak, an all-glass iron, was designed in the 1940s in response to the steel shortage during World War II. Other pieces featured in the IDEO exhibit include a child’s chair designed by Charles and Ray Eames, the stylish Divusumma 18 calculator, a walking cane with a pull-out map, and an array of flashlights from the 1940s through the 1990s. “IDEO Selects” is also on display until January 20, 2008. | | On the second floor of the mansion is an exhibit that is quite unique, yet much more abstract than previous two. Visitors to “Provoking Magic: Lighting of Ingo Maurer” are greeted by a pair of modernized portraits of Andrew and Louise Carnegie, in which the couple creepily whispers at visitors as their eyes move subtly around the room. The rest of the exhibit, which features the work of contemporary lighting designer Ingo Maurer, is just as perplexing – and, at times, just as creepy. Spanning the designer’s nearly 40-year career, the exhibit includes his photographs, models, and prototypes, as well as several large-scale installations created just for Cooper-Hewitt. Maurer’s very modern pieces include funky, serially produced lamps, chandeliers made out of broken chinaware, and an array of whimsical winged light bulbs. |  | His delicate paper lanterns are made with painstaking detail, and his larger pieces are clearly well-planned and quite labor intensive. However, the stark, modern feel is difficult to connect with or find purpose in. “Provoking Magic” is on display now through January 27, 2008.
The last – and, if you’re not careful, the most easily missed – of the current exhibits at Cooper-Hewitt can be found on the basement level of the mansion. “Multiple Choice: From Sample to Product” is a charming exhibit featuring a variety of sample books for wallcoverings, woven and printed textiles, ribbons, lace, embroidery, and buttons, all from the 18th- through the 20th-centuries. These sample books, used in the fashion and interior decoration industries as marketing materials and as a means of recording designs, showcase the various products and techniques popular during different time periods, showing how both design and taste have evolved together.
On display are an array of beautiful wallpaper patterns, lush fabrics, sturdy textiles, and several lovely sets of buttons. “Multiple Choice” is on display until April 6, 2008.
Cooper-Hewitt’s current offerings are engaging, informative, and well put together, with something for everyone, no matter what your design background may be. Admission to Cooper-Hewitt is $15, a fee that grants access to all four exhibits currently on display. |
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