Object Timeline

  • We acquired this object.

0

  • Work on this object ended.

2014

  • Work on this object began.

2022

2025

  • You found it!

Project, Ideas Box, 2014-ongoing

This is a Project. It was designed by Philippe Starck and collaborator: Bibliothèques Sans Frontières and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. It is dated 2014-ongoing. It is a part of the department.


Australia, Bangladesh, Burundi, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Iraq, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania, Turkey, United States 2014–present

Ideas Box is a portable library and pop-up multimedia center that can be easily shipped, is energy independent, and can be set up in 20 minutes. It was designed to be deployed to areas of hardship— refugee camps, isolated communities, underserved urban spaces, and remote Indigenous peoples’ land around the world. Each box’s contents are tailored to the community’s needs. Ideas Box has been distributed across six continents, offering free access to information, culture, and educational resources, which are key tools in promoting healing and building more tolerant communities.

It is credited Courtesy of Bibliothèques Sans Frontières.

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Designing Peace.

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<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://www-4.collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/2318806192/ |title=Project, Ideas Box, 2014-ongoing |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=12 February 2025 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>