Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

In celebration of the opening of "Making Home—Smithsonian Design Triennial" on Saturday, November 2, join Cooper Hewitt for session two of the inaugural Making Home Saturday Series program, featuring Chief of the Delaware Tribe of Indians Brad KillsCrow, Maria Nicanor, Director of Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum and Kevin Young, Director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture. The Making Home Saturday Series is a quarterly program that pairs special guests with participants from the exhibition. The program’s two-part sessions include conversations on exhibition-related themes, including systems, belonging, memory, care, and building, as well as the contemporary concepts of home related to race, class, migration, climate, and technology. Click the link below to get your tickets!

In celebration of the opening of "Making Home—Smithsonian Design Triennial" on Saturday, November 2, join Cooper Hewitt for session one of the inaugural Making Home Saturday Series program, featuring curators Alexandra Cunningham Cameron, Christina L. de León, and Michelle Joan Wilkinson The Making Home Saturday Series is a quarterly program that pairs special guests with participants from the exhibition. The program’s two-part sessions include conversations on exhibition-related themes, including systems, belonging, memory, care, and building, as well as the contemporary concepts of home related to race, class, migration, climate, and technology. Click the link below to get your tickets!

For more than 20 years, Michael Eden has been a professional potter, often working in a traditional slipware technique. In 2006, he enrolled in a postgraduate program at the Royal College of Art in London and his career set off in a new direction. Now a self-described ‘maker,’ Eden explores how digital technology can be combined with traditional ceramic techniques to produce a new kind of work. Eden’s “Tall Green Bloom Urn” (pictured here) is a large, handled form that also references ancient classical ceramics, but is made in a truly twenty-first-century way. Eden designs the object using computer software, then sends the data to be “printed” in nylon. According to Eden, the form is “dyed to start with, as it would be impossible to access the interior surfaces with [a brush or] air gun without causing unsightly build-up of color” in the form’s many crevices and gaps. Eden suggests that the urn’s radiating rods, the layering of which forms the structure, are reminiscent of bursting thistles. Watch a video about Eden's creative process here: https://s.si.edu/3NoEaUW __ Tall Green Bloom Urn, 2012; Designed by Michael Eden (English, b. 1955); Nylon; England

Jewel tones for #TextileTuesday. ?? __ 1. Textile, 1750–1800; cotton; France 2. Textile, 1700–50; silk 3. Textile, ca. 1860s; silk; France 4. Textile, 18th century; silk; France 5. Textile, 1880–1900; silk; France 6. Textile, 18th century; silk; France All objects are part of Cooper Hewitt's permanent collection and are not currently on display.

A camera in a box. ?? Walter Dorwin Teague was a well-established industrial designer by 1928, when the Eastman Kodak Company engaged him to modernize their line of cameras. Having no prior experience in camera design, Teague undertook the assignment after Kodak agreed that he could spend one week each month at their facilities in Rochester, New York to work closely with Kodak’s engineers and learn all he could about cameras and their manufacture. Teague started by redesigning carrying cases for existing lines of cameras, and within two years he went on to design a range of modern-styled cameras for the growing amateur market, including the Beau Brownie box-type camera and the 1A Gift Kodak (pictured here). The 1A Gift Kodak used the company’s number 116 roll film that produced 2 1/4 x 4 1/2 inch prints. ??? Kodak produced its gift cameras in limited runs of 10,000, and the 1A Gift Kodak was a special version created expressly for the holiday gift-giving season—and, at a cost of $15, the 1A Gift Kodak was affordable to consumers of the time and would have indicated the sophistication and modernity of both the giver and recipient. ?? Tap the link to learn more about this design: https://s.si.edu/3N1txY3 __ Camera, 1A Gift Kodak Camera and Box, 1930; Designed by Walter Dorwin Teague; Manufactured by Eastman Kodak Company; USA. This object is part of Cooper Hewitt's permanent collection and is not currently on display.

A pop of autumnal color on this dreary New York City day. ?? Knoll Textiles introduced “Cato” (pictured here) in 1961, and it has been in continuous production ever since. It was designed and woven by Paul Maute, a German designer and weaver whose contributions to Knoll were both influential and lasting. __ Color Blanket, Cato, 2014; Produced by Knoll Textiles; 86% wool, 14% rayon; USA

How do we honor the stories of our communities? Cooper Hewitt’s feature-length documentary “Mud Frontier: Architecture at the Borderlands” (2022) focuses on Studio Rael San Fratello’s work to connect contemporary technology with the legacy of pottery making and adobe architecture in the Southwest United States. The film follows the studio’s founders, Ronald Rael and Virginia San Fratello, as they return to Rael’s ancestral land to reconnect with the past and forge new methods of creative production. Motivated by the neglect of traditional adobe houses that once covered the San Luis Valley region and the rise of concrete buildings, the studio is exploring the use of 3D-printing technology to build adobe structures in Rael’s familial village of La Florida in southern Colorado. ?? Click the link to watch the full documentary over on our YouTube channel: https://s.si.edu/4d7vCfI #SmithsonianHHM

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum today announced the appointment of Elissa Black as deputy director, effective Sept. 9. Deeply experienced in both the non-profit and for-profit sectors, Black brings more than 20 years of executive leadership to the role.

Cooper Hewitt’s galleries are temporarily closed for the installation of “Making Home—Smithsonian Design Triennial,” opening November 2. The Garden, SHOP and Cafe are open through September 2. More info: https://s.si.edu/3xeOSTM

Accompanying the exhibition "Acquired! Shaping the National Design Collection," Cooper Hewitt’s conservators offer a closer look into the process of preparing collection objects for display and long-term preservation. In this iteration, learn about the specific challenges and opportunities of collecting and displaying digital media. This weekend is your last chance to experience "Acquired!" before it closes on August 25!