New York’s Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum reopens

Passion for the Exotic: Lockwood de Forest, Frederic Church exhibitionFurther changes coming early next year include the launch of an interactive «pen», which will let users collect and save information from their visit on a dedicated website that will allow them to   reexamine the material later on. Maira Kalman Selects exhibition»The pen and the interactive tables will expand connections from exhibitions out to the collections and beyond,» said Lipps. Maira Kalman Selects exhibitionThis will also allow frequent visitors to build their own online collections and share them with others. Making Design exhibition»We’re really excited to have our museum back,» said Andrea Lipps, assistant curator of contemporary design, during a talk at Helsinki Design Week. News: the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum in Manhattan reopens to the public today after a three-year renovation project including new fittings by architects Diller Scofidio + Renfro   (+ slideshow). Carnegie Mansion by Cooper HewittThe Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum has undergone a makeover that included the creation of interactive galleries and displays, and a rebranding by graphic design studio Pentagram. Making Design exhibitionTaking over two adjacent townhouses, the Cooper Hewitt now boasts 60 per cent more gallery space for presenting the museum’s permanent collection and temporary exhibitions. Beautiful Users exhibitionArchitects Diller Scofidio + Renfro, who worked on New York’s High Line park,   designed the casework and the layout of movable display cases for the exhibitions in the first- and second-floor galleries, as well as the new Shop Cooper Hewitt retail space. Immersion RoomAn Immersion Room on the second floor projects the museum’s collection of wall coverings onto the vertical surfaces, allowing occupants to flick through the designs on an interactive panel and control what is shown around them. Related story: Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt announces National Design Awards winners 2014Tools: Extending Our Reach exhibitionThe overhaul involved the renovation of Carnegie Mansion – Cooper Hewitt’s home since 1976 – located in Manhattan’s Upper East Side on Fifth Avenue, part of a   strip of institutions that includes the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Solomon R Guggenheim Museum. Hewitt Sisters CollectionHigh-resolution touchscreen tables have been   installed across all three floors, which visitors can use to browse through items in the collection.