Collab

Collab is a collaboration of design professionals who SHARE GREAT DESIGN & support Modern and Contem

Collab is a collaboration of design professionals and enthusiasts supporting the modern and contemporary design collection at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. A volunteer committee founded in 1970, Collab is dedicated to enriching the Museum's Modern and Contemporary Design collection with outstanding examples of mass produced and unique designs, and making the collections accessible to the general

public. Now among the most important in the country, the Museum's design collection houses more than 2,500 objects ranging from furniture to ceramics, glass, wallpaper, lighting and functional objects.

04/16/2026

Continuing our series highlighting the 2025 Student Design Competition awardees.

3rd Place: Can Cabinet by Lindsay Jadow (The New School–Parsons)

Inspired by Sebastian Errazuriz’s ability to transform the everyday, this entry reimagines a familiar form into a functional storage piece, balancing humor, material contrast, and utility.

Want to see more from this year’s winners? Read the full feature in the Collab Journal: https://www.collabjournal.org/journal/dsqg8wbwxt197yrvaer16gmz757c5o

04/09/2026

As we continue our series highlighting the 2025 Student Design Competition awardees.

Honorable Mention: Jenga Cabinet by Haewon Kang (Tyler School of Art & Architecture, Temple University)

Inspired by the logic of stacking and play, the design transforms individual storage units into a modular system, inviting users to rearrange, interact with, and redefine its function over time.

Want to see more from this year’s winners?

Want to see more from this year’s winners? Read the full feature in the Collab Journal: https://www.collabjournal.org/journal/dsqg8wbwxt197yrvaer16gmz757c5o

04/02/2026

As we approach the end of the school year, we’re taking a deeper dive into the work of this year’s Student Design Competition awardees 👀

Honorable Mention: Mira by Malay Shah (University of Pennsylvania)

Mira unfolds from a full-length mirror into functional shelving—blending storage, reflection, and everyday ritual into a single, space-saving design.

Want to see more from this year’s winners? Read the full feature in the Collab Journal: https://www.collabjournal.org/journal/dsqg8wbwxt197yrvaer16gmz757c5o

03/20/2026

First day of spring 🌸

The Antibodi Chaise, designed in 2006 by 2017 Collab Design Excellence Award winner Patricia Urquiola, reimagines seating as something soft, layered, and almost alive—where structure meets textile, and furniture begins to feel more like a landscape than an object.

11/18/2025

Join us to celebrate as the recipient of the 2025 Collab Design Excellence Award.

Learn more + purchase tickets at the link in bio

11/15/2025

Join us to celebrate Sebastian Errazuriz as the recipient of the 2025 Collab Design Excellence Award.

Meet the artist and be the first to view Sebastian Errazuriz: Double Take, a mid-career survey presenting 15 years of a multidisciplinary practice that twists expectations of furniture, lighting, and everyday objects. Embracing humor and appropriation, Errazuriz’s one-of-a-kind pieces carry subtext that moves beyond form and function into personal narrative, political message, and cultural commentary.

Thursday, November 20, 2025
6:00–8:00 p.m.
Philadelphia Art Museum – Main Building
Tickets: $85 ($75 for Collab members)

“Sebastian Errazuriz, the 2025 Collab Design Excellence Award exhibition,” is made possible by The Lisa S. Roberts and David W. Seltzer Endowment Fund in support of the Collab Design Excellence Award Exhibition.

The 2025 Collab Design Excellence Award is sponsored by Amuneal, Poor Richard’s Charitable Trust, venturethree, Eileen Tognini Design, Rago Auction, and Voith & Mactavish Architects LLP.

Learn more + purchase tickets: https://www.visitpham.org/events/collab-design-sebastian-errazuriz

11/13/2025

🎉Today, we celebrate the radical imagination of Italian designer and architect Gaetano Pesce (November 8, 1939 – April 3, 2024), Collab’s 2005 Design Excellence Award honoree and one of the most boundary-pushing figures in 20th- and 21st-century design.

Known for his bold use of color, form, and material, Pesce refused to separate art from design or emotion from function. From his iconic Up chair series to his irreverent resin furniture, Pesce’s work championed imperfection, individuality, and the human touch.

“I’d like to see more human feelings, less abstraction, less being neutral. I would like to see the human touch… more personal stories in design, architecture and objects.”

Trained under Carlo Scarpa and Ernesto Rogers at the University of Venice, Pesce went on to influence generations of architects and designers across the globe. His work is held in the collections of MoMA, the Met, the V&A, and Centre Pompidou, and his vision continues to shape the conversation on what design can be.

📸: Courtesy of https://www.nytimes.com/

11/03/2025

Join us this Friday for Next Now Design, part of the 2025 Festival, bringing together influential designers and innovators shaping a more vibrant Philadelphia.

🕞 3:25–4:10 PM: Revisiting the Past, Designing the Future: A Fireside Chat on Modern & Contemporary Design at the Philadelphia Art Museum

Featuring Tiffany Lambert, The Lisa Roberts and David Seltzer Curator of Modern and Contemporary Design at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and Eileen Tognini, Co-Chair of Collab at the PHAM and 2025 DesignPhiladelphia Lifetime Achievement Award Winner.

Together, they’ll explore how design bridges past and future, and how the PHAM is redefining its role in the city’s creative ecosystem.

Stick around after for happy hour, light bites, and plenty of design inspiration.

https://designphiladelphia.org/events/view/next-now-design

11/03/2025

Today, we honor Zaha Hadid (October 31, 1950 – March 31, 2016), our 2011 Design Excellence Award honoree and a true force in contemporary architecture.

The first woman and first Muslim to receive the Pritzker Prize (2004), Hadid was known for her bold, futuristic forms marked by curves, fragmentation, and layered perspectives that defied architectural conventions.

Born in Baghdad and trained in mathematics in Beirut, she went on to study at the Architectural Association in London, where she became part of a generation that would redefine the field. Her career bridged practice and academia, with teaching roles at institutions like Harvard, UIC, and Hamburg’s Hochschule für bildende Künste.

From the one-north master plan in Singapore to museums, bridges, and towers around the world, Hadid showed us that architecture could be visionary and unapologetically expressive.

📸: Courtesy of https://www.zaha-hadid.com/

10/25/2025

🎉 Happy Birthday, Bruce Mau (born October 25, 1959)

Today we celebrate Bruce Mau, our 2015 Design Excellence Award honoree and a Canadian designer known for expanding the scope of design across disciplines and industries.

Starting in graphic design, Mau went on to found Bruce Mau Design, co-author Massive Change, and apply design methodology to education, sustainability, architecture, museums, and organizational systems. His collaborations span institutions like MoMA, MIT Media Lab, and OMA/Rem Koolhaas, and his work continues through the Massive Change Network.

Whether tackling visual identity or global challenges, Mau reminds us that design is about more than making things—it’s about shaping how we live.

📸: Courtesy of https://brucemaustudio.com/

10/20/2025

🎉 Happy Birthday, Marc Newson (born October 20, 1963)

Today we celebrate Marc Newson, our 2013 Design Excellence Award honoree and one of the most influential designers of his generation.

From furniture and fashion to jets and jewelry, Newson’s work spans industries, but his signature style is unmistakable: fluid geometry, organic curves, and futuristic elegance. His iconic Lockheed Lounge holds the record for the highest auction price ever paid for the work of a living designer.

Described by Jony Ive as “fairly peerless now,” Newson continues to shape how we live, move, and experience the designed world.

📸: Courtesy of https://www.forbes.com.au/

10/07/2025

🚨 One Month Left!

The 2025 Collab Student Design Competition is open, and submissions are due Friday, November 7.

This year’s challenge, inspired by our 2025 Design Excellence Award honoree Sebastian Errazuriz, asks university-level design students to create a sideboard, console, or cabinet that reflects his thought-provoking, boundary-pushing approach.

👉 Designs should be functional, provoke thought, and even spark a little humor, echoing Errazuriz’s unique blend of art, design, and technology.

💰 Prizes: $800, $500, $300 + Honorable Mentions
🏆 Winners also receive a one-year PMA membership
📅 Feedback session with judges: November 12

Full details + submissions via CaFÉ: https://artist.callforentry.org/festivals_unique_info.php?ID=15416

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