Dec 11, 2014 12:00 PM

Gallery: An Innovative Museum That Lets You Play the Role of a Designer

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
01
Making Design
After three years of renovations, the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum reopens tomorrow.
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
02
Gesture Match
A long roster of design teams, such as Local Projects, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, and Pentagram, worked on new typography and exhibits for the museum.

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
03
Immersion Room 2
The Immersion Room is a key attraction. Via a touch screen display, visitors can select from thousands of historical wallpaper patterns and see them projected at full scale on the walls.
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
04
Immersion Room
Snippets of audio from the designers play in the room.

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
05
Process Lab
The Process Lab gives visitors a chance to learn more about design thinking, and to prototype their own ideas at arts-and-crafts-like tables.
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
06
Interactive Pen 2
An electronic pen, designed and manufactured just for Cooper Hewitt, will be available in February. With it, users can digitally save items from the collections or draw on the touch screens.

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
07
Interactive Pen and Table 1
Local Projects created an algorithm for the touch screens that can respond to hand drawn shapes. If a visitor draws a curve, he'll see objects with that same curve appear.
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
08
Making Design 1
Only some of the museum's extensive permanent collection can fit into Carnegie Mansion. so the pen allows access to archives that aren't on display.

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
09
Making Design 2
The design process figures heavily in the exhibits. Here, from left to right, is a graphic breakdown of how the red and pink poster came to life.
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
10
Installation view: Models & Prototypes Gallery
By pairing its collection with new, cutting edge technologies, the museum bridges the history of design with its future. Here, old school prototypes.

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
11
Tools
In a nearby gallery, a sketchbot draws visitors' portraits in sand.

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