Cooper Hewitt Unveils Permanent Collection Galleries Showcasing a Multi-Year Presentation of the National Design Collection | Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

NEW YORK — This summer, the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum will boldly pull back the curtain on its vast, largely hidden archival holdings. Beginning Friday, June 26, the museum will unveil its sweeping permanent collection galleries with a landmark presentation titled “Design Across Time: Exploring the Smithsonian’s Design Collection.”

Hosted within the historic, landmarked Carnegie Mansion along New York City’s prestigious Museum Mile, the exhibition is slated for an extended, two-year run. Spanning the entire first floor of the museum, "Design Across Time" promises visitors a completely fresh, thematic lens through which to experience one of the most diverse, comprehensive, and technologically varied design repositories on the planet.

Bringing together more than 125 works across multiple creative disciplines—including product and graphic design, fashion, textiles, digital innovation, wallcoverings, and architecture—the installation shatters traditional chronological models. Instead, it invites the public to engage with design not as a linear history of objects, but as a living, breathing civic practice that shapes everyday human existence.

Main Facts: The Scope of "Design Across Time"

At its core, "Design Across Time" is designed to address a universal museum challenge: how to grant public access to institutional treasures that are predominantly kept safely tucked away in storage.

• Duration: A rare two-year extended installation, featuring strategic rotations of objects throughout its lifespan to ensure recurring visitors always encounter something new.
• Scale: More than 125 objects spanning millennia, geographies, and methodologies.
• Highlights: The exhibition features significant works newly excavated from archival storage, recent high-profile acquisitions making their public debut, and canonical touchstones of both American and global design history.
• Thematic Framework: Organized into six dynamic clusters—Repeat, Transform, Show Off, Simplify, Tweak, and Play—the layout examines the foundational actions inherent to the creative process.
• Spatial Design: Conceptualized by the multidisciplinary studio JA Projects, with graphic design by the New York-based creative agency Pacific. The layout features an introductory core in the central gallery intersected by dramatic axis vitrines, utilizing a rich textural palette and timeless collection silhouettes to defy orthodox curation.

Chronology and Historical Trajectory: From Antiquity to the Digital Age

The chronological span of "Design Across Time" is staggering, bridging the gap between ancient civilizations and cutting-edge contemporary digital culture.

Visitors will trace a sweeping narrative arc that begins around 1100 BCE with an exquisite, unidentified maker’s Lotus-shaped Cup from Egypt—crafted from colored faience (ceramic frit)—and travels forward through centuries of human ingenuity.

Key chronological milestones represented in the galleries include:

• Late 18th Century: Intricate ink-and-wash architectural and decorative drawings, such as Giuseppe Barberi’s Designs for a Chalice.
• c. 1800: Masterful Japanese textiles, exemplified by a striking silk metallic brocade Noh theater costume gifted by Eleanor and Sarah Hewitt.
• 1825–1826: Opulent craftsmanship from Europe, showcased through the Royal Jewel Cabinet produced by the Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory using mahogany, platinum, glass, bronze, gold, hard-paste porcelain, and vitreous enamel.
• 1950s–1970s: Mid-century modern triumphs, including Greta von Nessen’s cantilevered aluminum Anywhere lamp (1951) and the futuristic, helmet-shaped Videosphere Model 3240 portable television (1970) produced by the Victor Company of Japan.
• The Late 20th Century: Groundbreaking avant-garde jewelry and graphic statements, such as Tone Vigeland’s hammered-nail necklace (1983) and Art Sims’ evocative promotional poster for Spike Lee’s Malcolm X (1992).
• The 21st Century: Contemporary masterpieces that challenge material limits and address modern crises, ranging from Sheila Bridges’ socially conscious Harlem Toile de Jouy wallpaper (2006) and Hitomi Hosono’s intricately carved porcelain A Very Large Nazuna vase (2016) to Toots Zynsky’s glass-thread vessel Aurifero II (2023) and David Jonathan Ross’s public-domain digital typeface Bungee (2011–2016).

Supporting Data and Collaborative Visionaries

The realization of "Design Across Time" is the result of exhaustive curatorial research and innovative architectural collaboration.

Curatorial Leadership

The exhibition is organized by an expert curatorial team featuring Matilda McQuaid, acting curatorial director; Susan Brown, acting head of Textiles; Emily Orr, acting head of Product Design and Decorative Arts; and Julie Pastor, curatorial assistant. Their work is backed by the broader curatorial, exhibitions, and director’s office teams at Cooper Hewitt.

Exhibition Architecture: JA Projects

Founded by architect and artist Jayden Ali, JA Projects is recognized for spaces that prioritize human experience and cultural resonance. The studio’s portfolio includes high-profile exhibition designs for major international institutions, such as the Royal Academy’s Entangled Pasts 1768–Now (2024), Fashioning Masculinities at the V&A (2022), the Why We Make galleries at the upcoming V&A East Museum (2026), and the British Pavilion at the 2023 Venice Biennale.

Graphic Identity: Pacific

Elizabeth Karp-Evans and Adam Turnbull’s New York-based creative agency, Pacific, crafted the exhibition’s visual identity. Known for bridging design, culture, and communication, Pacific’s recent credits include the rebrand for the Studio Museum in Harlem, art direction for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Superfine: Tailoring Black Style catalog, and digital brand identities for major cultural initiatives.

Major Financial Support

Mounting an exhibition of this magnitude requires robust philanthropic backing. "Design Across Time" received primary support from Jon and Shigemi Iwata, alongside Lisa Roberts and David Seltzer. Additional funding was generously provided by:

• Amita and Purnendu Chatterjee
• The Lily Auchincloss Foundation
• The Terra Foundation for American Art
• The Arthur F. and Alice E. Adams Foundation
• Irene Au and Bradley Horowitz
• Chris and Irma Fralic

Crucially, the project received essential funding from the Smithsonian’s "Our Shared Future: 250," a nationwide initiative supported by private philanthropy designed to commemorate the United States’ upcoming 250th anniversary and map out the institution’s vision for the next quarter-millennium.

Official Responses and Museum Philosophy

Speaking on the impetus behind the ambitious two-year installation, Cooper Hewitt Director Maria Nicanor emphasized the moral and cultural imperative of bringing the nation’s hidden treasures into the light.

"Cooper Hewitt holds the nation’s design collection, a public resource that belongs to all and that, as is common across museums worldwide, is largely kept in storage," said Maria Nicanor, director of the museum. "Expanding access for all to this rich repository of ideas—at a time when creativity and design can help us navigate uncertainty and complexity—is urgent and inspired the idea to bring this selection into view for an extended period."

The museum’s foundational philosophy asserts that design is not an elitist luxury, but an omnipresent civic framework. From microscopic digital code to sprawling urban infrastructure proposals—such as Susannah Churchill Drake and ARO’s New Urban Ground (2009)—every individual is an expert user and active participant in the built environment.

Implications: A Digital Horizon and Unprecedented Accessibility

The launch of "Design Across Time" marks only the physical facet of a broader institutional transformation at Cooper Hewitt. In the coming months, the museum will debut a completely redesigned online collections platform, establishing one of the first public-facing, AI-integrated digital experiences across the entire Smithsonian complex.

Designed by Champions Design, with digital strategy, user experience (UX), and development managed by Schema Design, the new platform will grant global audiences access to the museum’s complete inventory of over 215,000 objects. Through narrative-driven storytelling threads, the digital portal extends the museum’s reach far beyond the physical walls of the Carnegie Mansion.

Commitment to Inclusion and Accessibility

In alignment with the Smithsonian’s core values, Cooper Hewitt has implemented rigorous accessibility standards for the exhibition:

• Digital & Print Resources: Comprehensive image descriptions are available via the exhibition’s accessibility webpage and in-person Large Print Label booklet.
• Sensory Adaptations: Large-print labels and sensory support materials are readily available throughout the galleries.
• Assistive Tech: In-gallery digital interactive displays feature full screen-reader compatibility.

A Broader Public Offering

To accompany the two-year exhibition, Cooper Hewitt will roll out an extensive slate of public programming. Leading designers, historians, and cultural theorists will host talks, panel discussions, and hands-on workshops exploring the exhibition’s core themes, cultural stewardship, and the evolving role of national museums in the 21st century.

About Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

As America’s designated design museum, Cooper Hewitt operates as a dynamic, experimental, and inclusive institution. Located within the landmarked Carnegie Mansion on New York City’s Museum Mile, it forms an integral part of the Smithsonian Institution—the world’s largest museum, education, and research complex.

Whether through physical exhibitions, master’s degree programs, scholarly publications, or cutting-edge digital resources, Cooper Hewitt continues to empower individuals to recognize the profound power of design to shape, alter, and improve the world.

For further information regarding visiting hours, tickets, and upcoming public programming, visitors are encouraged to visit www.cooperhewitt.org or follow @cooperhewitt across Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.