Beauty—Cooper Hewitt Design Triennial
This exhibition was on display from February 12, 2016 to August 21, 2016.
Some objects in this exhibition may not be viewable on the website due to copyright or other usage restrictions, or because there is no digitized image for the object.
This exhibition has been divided in to the following sections:
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With projects ranging from experimental prototypes to interactive games, fashion ensembles, and architectural constructions, Beauty—Cooper Hewitt Design Triennial presents work by 63 designers and teams from around the globe. The exhibition explores seven kinds of beauty: extravagant, intricate, ethereal, transgressive, transformative, emergent, and elemental.
Beauty: this intoxicating idea has been pondered by philosophers and pursued by artists for millennia. It’s a concept that speaks to both change and permanence. Beauty happens when we see, touch, smell, and otherwise activate the world around us. While beauty is a fleeting human response, it also embodies our search for enduring objects and ideals. In his 2001 essay “On Beauty and Judgment,” philosopher Alexander Nehamas explains, “To find something beautiful is, precisely, not yet to have finished with it, to think it has something further to offer.”
Why beauty now? Many conversations about design focus on function and problem solving. Yet designers do more than solve utilitarian problems. Designers tell stories and ask questions. They communicate ideas, stimulate the senses, and construct narratives about nature, culture, and making.
Beauty enters the eye as reflected light. The ever-changing phenomenon of light appears throughout this exhibition in materials and artifacts that shimmer and change, modulating the illumination around them. Inspired by nature, designers are using 3D printing and computer-aided design to create new structures based on patterns of growth. Designers are tapping the energy of the Earth and cosmos by employing gravitational force and elemental materials, bringing weight and power to a piece of jewelry or a soaring work of architecture.
Beauty varies among individuals and cultures. Strange or damaged forms transgress the norms of beauty, pushing viewers to expand their expectations by encountering forms that are odd, uncanny, or outlandish. Designers revive past traditions and celebrate a mix of cultures in order to illuminate local customs while engaging in a global discourse.
The experience of beauty is visceral and embodied, not just visual. Beauty strikes the senses. It erupts from sensual invention, and it adds endless value to the world we inhabit.
- T1 Low Table Lamp, from IC Light collection
- brassed steel, blown glass opal diffuser.
- Courtesy of Flos USA, Inc..
- s-e-1823
- Smell, The Beauty of Decay: SmellScape Central Park Autumn 2015
- microencapsulation.
- Commissioned by Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum.
- s-e-1826
- There are 3 images of this object.
- Vessel, WV.01, from GLASS series
- 3d-printed glass.
- Courtesy of Mediated Matter, MIT Media Lab.
- 48.2015.3a,b
- WV.02, from GLASS series Vessel
- glass.
- Museum purchase from General Acquisitions Endowment Fund and through gift of....
- 2016-51-1-a,b
- This object is part of the Product Design and Decorative Arts collection.
- There are 4 images and 1 video of this object.
- Vessel, CY.02, from GLASS series
- 3d-printed glass.
- Courtesy of Mediated Matter, MIT Media Lab.
- 48.2015.5a,b
- Small Gray Vase, from Pizzelle series
- mold blown glass.
- Courtesy of Nouvel Studio.
- s-e-1800
- This object was made by Nouvel Studio.
- There are 2 images of this object.
- Small Box, from Formwork series
- abs plastic with non-slip silicone base.
- Courtesy of Herman Miller, Inc..
- s-e-1801-1/8
- There are 2 images of this object.
- Large Box, from Formwork series
- abs plastic with non-slip silicone base.
- Courtesy of Herman Miller, Inc..
- s-e-1802-1/8
- There are 2 images of this object.
- Pencil Cup, from Formwork series
- abs plastic with non-slip silicone base.
- Courtesy of Herman Miller, Inc..
- s-e-1803-1/8
- There are 2 images of this object.
- Small Tray, from Formwork series
- abs plastic with non-slip silicone base.
- Courtesy of Herman Miller, Inc..
- s-e-1804-1/8
- There are 2 images of this object.
- Large Tray, from Formwork series
- abs plastic with non-slip silicone base.
- Courtesy of Herman Miller, Inc..
- s-e-1805-1/8
- This object was made by Herman Miller Furniture Company.
- There are 2 images of this object.
- Paper Tray, from Formwork series
- abs plastic with non-slip silicone base.
- Courtesy of Herman Miller, Inc..
- s-e-1806-1/8
- There are 2 images of this object.
- Media Stand, from Formwork series
- abs plastic with non-slip silicone base.
- Courtesy of Herman Miller, Inc..
- s-e-1808-1,2
- There are 2 images of this object.
- Tissue Box, from Formwork series
- abs plastic with non-slip silicone base.
- Courtesy of Herman Miller, Inc..
- s-e-1809-1,2
- There are 2 images of this object.
- Ascent Lamp
- lathed, anodized and painted aluminum sheet, technopolymer, polyurethane rubber.
- Courtesy of Luceplan.
- s-e-1811
- Photograph, Forest Building
- digital print on vinyl.
- Courtesy of TAO (Trace Architecture Office).
- s-e-1817
- Bottle Humidifier
- abs plastic, polycarbonate.
- Courtesy of Cloudandco / Yeongkyu Yoo.
- s-e-1819
- There are 2 images of this object.
- Vessel, HY.01, from GLASS series
- 3d-printed glass.
- Courtesy of Mediated Matter, MIT Media Lab.
- 48.2015.2a,b
- Rendering, Souk Mirage / Particles of Light commercial building complex,...
- digital print.
- © Sou Fujimoto Architects.
- s-e-1710
- Poster, Silver Cypress, The Third Biennial of the Iranian Graphic Designers...
- digital print.
- Courtesy of the designer.
- s-e-1711
- Poster, Post Past, 250th Anniversary of the State Hermitage Museum
- digital print.
- Courtesy of the designer.
- s-e-1712
- Poster, Good News from Iran, Emerging Iranian Artists
- digital print.
- Courtesy of the designer.
- s-e-1713
- Poster, Tehran Touch, Iranian Graphic Design New Scene
- digital print.
- Courtesy of the designer.
- s-e-1714
- Poster, Tehran Monoxide Project, Photos From Four-to-Eighteen-Years-Olds’...
- digital print.
- Courtesy of the designer.
- s-e-1715
- This object was made by Homa Delvaray.
- Poster, Building Bricks, Palace of Typographic Masonry
- screenprint on paper.
- Gift of Richard Niessen.
- 2017-53-1
- There are 2 images of this object.
- Poster, The Masonic Lobby, Palace of Typographic Masonry
- screenprint on paper.
- Gift of Richard Niessen.
- 2017-53-2
- There are 2 images of this object.
- Poster, Several Rulers of Beauty, Palace of Typographic Masonry
- screenprint on paper.
- Gift of Richard Niessen.
- 2017-53-3
- There are 2 images of this object.
- Poster, The Plan, Palace of Typographic Masonry
- screenprint on paper.
- Gift of Richard Niessen.
- 2017-53-4
- There are 2 images of this object.
