Wallcoverings

Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum's "Wallcoverings" department contains the largest and most varied collection of wallpaper in the United States, with more than 10,000 examples. Pieces date from the late 17th century through today and represent many countries of origin.

Textiles

Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum's "Textiles" collection contains more than 30,000 pieces representing an extraordinarily wide range of woven and non-woven techniques. Extending from ancient to contemporary examples, the earliest pieces in the collection are from Han Dynasty China (206 BC to AD 221).

The Doris and Henry Dreyfuss Study Center Library and Archive

Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum's library is a branch of the Smithsonian Institution Libraries and contains more than 70,000 volumes, including books, periodicals, catalogs and trade literature dating from the 15th through the 20th centuries. Volumes cover American and European design and decorative arts with concentrations in architecture, graphic design, interior design, ornamental patterns, furniture, wallcoverings, textiles, metalwork, glass, ceramics and jewelry. The Library's Archive contains photographs, correspondence, promotional material, drawings, writings and related resource items for more than 30 American designers, including Henry Dreyfuss and Donald Deskey.

Product Design & Decorative Arts

Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum's department of "Product Design & Decorative Arts" is home to approximately 40,000 three-dimensional objects dating from antiquity to the 21st century, which form an important and comprehensive resource for decorative art and design. International in scope, the collection contains an exceptionally diverse assortment of objects, reflecting a vast range of historical styles and design movements. Categories of objects within the collections include ceramics, furniture, metalwork, lighting, glass, jewelry, architectural elements and industrial design.

Drawings, Prints and Graphic Design

Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum's Drue Heinz Study Center for Drawings and Prints houses more than 160,000 works of art dating from the Renaissance to the present related to the history of European and American art and design. Among the world's foremost repositories of European and American works on paper, the collection includes designs for architecture, decorative arts, gardens, interiors, ornament, jewelry, theater, textiles, graphic and industrial design, as well as the fine arts.

Doodle 4 Google: If I Could Do Anything, I Would...

May 27, 2010 - August 15, 2010
Ground Floor Gallery
This exhibition presents 40 designs selected among tens of thousands of entries submitted by students K-12 from all 50 states in Google's annual "Doodle 4 Google" design competition. Inspired by the theme "If I Could Do Anything, I Would," children from across the United States were challenged to think like designers and utilize Google's iconic logo as a springboard to convey their message. A panel of independent judges and representatives from Google and Cooper-Hewitt selected the top doodles across grade groups, and the public voted for the four National Finalist designs. The winning student's design appeared as the "doodle" of the day on the Google homepage on May 27, 2010.

National Design Triennial: Why Design Now?

May 14, 2010 - January 9, 2011
1st & 2nd Floors
Inaugurated in 2000, the Triennial program seeks out and presents the most innovative designs at the center of contemporary culture. In this fourth exhibition in the series, the National Design Triennial explores the work of designers addressing human and environmental problems across many fields of the design practice -- from architecture and products to fashion, graphics, new media, and landscapes.

Cooper-Hewitt curators Ellen Lupton, Cara McCarty, Matilda McQuaid, and Cynthia Smith present the experimental projects and emerging ideas for the period between 2006 and 2009.

Ted Muehling Selects: Lobmeyr Glass from the Permanent Collection

April 23, 2010 - January 2, 2011 (new closing date)
Nancy and Edwin Marks Gallery
New York-based designer Ted Muehling curates the museum's recent acquisition of 160 rare examples of glass from J. and L. Lobmeyr of Vienna, Austria. The collection dates from 1835 to the 21st century, spanning virtually the entire history of the firm since its founding. This addition to the permanent collection provides the unique opportunity to tell the history of glassmaking in central Europe during a 175-year period, with an in-depth look at one influential firm.