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Cooper Hewitt We are the nation's design museum! The Smithsonian may also archive materials posted on this website pursuant to its document retention policies.

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum is the only museum in the nation devoted exclusively to historic and contemporary design

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10/15/2026

Fifty years ago this month, we opened our doors in the Carnegie Mansion with “MAN transFORMS,” a radical exhibition conceived by architect Hans Hollein and founding Director Lisa Taylor, exploring the impact of design in everyday life. Since then, the mansion has been home to hundreds of exhibitions and welcomed visitors from around the world.

To mark the milestone, we’re turning the spotlight on the mansion itself and its half century as a museum. Join us for daily tours, a new audio tour this fall, and follow along as we share 50 archival photographs over the coming year. Stay tuned for more ways to celebrate in the months ahead.

Your Home for Design.

10/14/2026

🎙️ “Design Across Time”: In Their Words

Meet Virginia Bayer—granddaughter of textile designer Marguerita Mergentime, whose “Once in a While” napkin is on view in “Design Across Time” and part of Cooper Hewitt’s permanent collection.

“I thought all tablecloths a bore, particularly the white,” Mergentime once wrote. “What people needed, I decided, was bold, dashing color on the table.” She designed the “Once in a While” napkin so it could be folded in different ways. Every guest had the same napkin, but it looked different at each place setting, which made the table more interesting, more playful, and more engaging for everyone around it.

“Design Across Time” brings together 125 works from Cooper Hewitt’s national design collection, spanning 30 centuries, organized not by date or category but by what designers actually do: tweak, play, repeat, transform, show off, and simplify. On view now at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum.

NAPKIN, ONCE IN A WHILE, 1934
Marguerita Mergentime (American, 1894–1941)
Gift of Mergentime Family Archive

10/08/2026

Hear from Caitlin Condell, Associate Curator and Head of Drawings, Prints & Graphic Design, on Christina Malman’s “Illustration for The New Yorker,” now on view in “Design Across Time.”

Malman was an under-recognized illustrator working in the first half of the 20th century, when most professional illustrators were men. Her signature subjects were women and girls, often shown in groups of three as a subtle nod to the Three Graces. In this drawing, three women sit side by side in identical bathing suits and hats. The repetition of their poses and outfits creates a sense of unified form and brings a playful humor to the bonds of female friendship.

Cooper Hewitt is the only museum with drawings by Malman in a public collection. Listen to the full audio segment on the Bloomberg Connects app, and see the work in person in “Design Across Time.”

10/05/2026

In our latest Director’s Talk, Director Maria Nicanor sat down with Teddy Cruz and Fonna Forman, winners of the 2026 National Design Award for Climate Action.

Working across the San Diego–Tijuana border, Cruz and Forman partner with communities on both sides of the wall to build housing, public space, and climate adaptation through their UCSD Community Stations. In their conversation, they addressed the re-imagined role of the architect, the work needed to build trust with communities on the ground and their interest in new models of critical pedagogy, shared knowledge and bottom-up co-production.

09/02/2026

🎙️ “Design Across Time”: In Their Words

Meet threeASFOUR—Gabriel Asfour, Angela Donhauser, and Adi Gil—designers of the “Temple Dress” from their Mer Ka Ba collection, on view in “Design Across Time” and part of Cooper Hewitt’s permanent collection.
Inspired by the “sacred geometries” of the elaborate tilework patterns found in synagogues, churches, and mosques around the world, the fashion collective combined these universal and ancient patterns with cutting-edge technologies to create the “Temple Dress.”

“Design Across Time” brings together 125 works from Cooper Hewitt’s national design collection, spanning 30 centuries, organized not by date or category but by what designers actually do: tweak, play, repeat, transform, show off, and simplify. On view now at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum.

TEMPLE DRESS, MER KA BA COLLECTION, 2013
threeASFOUR (New York, NY, founded 2005) — Gabriel Asfour, Angela Donhauser, and Adi Gil
threeASFOUR



08/31/2026

Join Cooper Hewitt’s next Director’s Talk with 2026 National Design Awards Climate Action winner, Estudio Teddy Cruz + Fonna Forman (Estudio Teddy Cruz + Fonna Forman).

Director’s Talks is the latest program in a new series spotlighting design’s most defining voices in conversation with Director Maria Nicanor.

On September 24, Estudio Teddy Cruz + Fonna Forman offer an inside look at the innovation, practice, and vision behind their UCSD Community Stations project, a network of civic spaces along the U.S.–Mexico border, designed to advance climate resilience and social equity.

🗓 Director’s Talks: Maria Nicanor in Conversation with Estudio Teddy Cruz + Fonna Forman, 2026 National Design Award Winner, Climate Action

Thursday, September 24, 6:00–7:30 p.m.
Tap the link in our bio for tickets.

   

08/28/2026

Christopher Payne (Christopher Payne) trained as an architect. One of his first jobs was as an architectural technician, producing drawings for the Historic American Engineering Record, a branch of the National Parks Service that documents the United States’ industrial heritage. Drawing historic infrastructure across the country fueled Payne’s deep fascination with design, assembly, and the built form. Gradually, he traded in his drafting tools for a camera.

Over the past decade, through personal projects and editorial commissions, Payne has been on a photographic journey to learn more about what is made across the country.

Just one month left to see more than 70 of Payne’s large-format photographs in “Made in America: The Industrial Photography of Christopher Payne.” On view at Cooper Hewitt through September 27.

Tap the link in our bio to learn more and plan your visit.

08/19/2026

🎙️ “Design Across Time”: In Their Words

Constantin Boym and Laurene Leon Boym discuss the “Recycle” series, now on view in “Design Across Time” and part of Cooper Hewitt’s permanent collection.
 
The Boyms are drawn to the icons hiding in plain sight. The throwaway objects, the ready-mades, the things so familiar we stop seeing them. With the “Recycle” series, Constantin took something ordinary and made it just strange enough to look at fresh, without stripping away the meaning it carried in the first place.
 
“Design Across Time” brings together 125 works from Cooper Hewitt’s national design collection, spanning 30 centuries, organized not by date or category but by what designers actually do: tweak, play, repeat, transform, show off, and simplify. On view now at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum.

RECYCLE SERIES DRAWING AND PROTOTYPE CONTAINER
Constantin Boym (American, b. 1955, Russia) of Boym Partners, Inc. (New York, NY)

08/13/2026

“When you walk into the space, I want you to feel comfortable, seduced, and engulfed by music.” – Devon Turnbull (Devon Turnbull)

The “HiFi Pursuit Listening Room Dream No. 3” features a large-scale, handmade audio system designed by Turnbull for the museum’s historic Carnegie Library space.

Turnbull, along with guest operators from John Schaefer and Russell Elevado to Mark Ronson, have activated the immersive sound installation, inviting visitors to slow down and engage deeply in listening.

Don’t miss its last days at Cooper Hewitt. The Listening Room closes Sunday, August 16, with final live operator sessions today, Thursday, and Saturday.

Tap the link in our bio to plan your visit.

08/07/2026

Christopher Payne’s (Christopher Payne) photographs take you inside American factories, showcasing the traditional craftsmanship behind the creation of musical instruments, flags, footballs, and pinball machines, as well as the intricate hand processes still critical to creating the most advanced products, ranging from microchips to the Giant Magellan Telescope.

For more than a decade, Payne has photographed factories across the U.S., similar to predecessors like Lewis Hine and Gordon Parks. Through his visually arresting photographs, Payne documents a world of making and makers that continues to change at staggering speed. Some factories still use traditional handcraft methods, while in others, engineers and technicians work side by side with robots, pushing the limits of technology and collective intelligence—both human and artificial.

This Sunday, Christopher Payne will take visitors through the exhibition, highlighting some of his original photographs on view in “Made in America: The Industrial Photography of Christopher Payne.”

Sunday, August 9, 1:30 p.m.

Tap the link in our bio to learn more and plan your visit.

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2 East 91st Street
New York, NY
10128

Opening Hours

Monday 10am - 6pm
Tuesday 10am - 6pm
Wednesday 10am - 6pm
Thursday 10am - 6pm
Friday 10am - 6pm
Saturday 10am - 6pm
Sunday 10am - 6pm

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+12128498400

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