COOPER

HEWITT

SMITHSONIAN

DESIGN

MUSEUM

Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, housed in the historic 19th century Carnegie mansion, was upgraded to create a new visitor experience for a 21st–century institution. DS+R designed surgical interventions that maintain Carnegie’s historic fabric while remaining flexible for the constantly evolving subject matter.DS+R devised a program for the master plan and designed the exhibition display systems for the first and second floor galleries, the new SHOP Cooper Hewitt Retail space, the entrance canopy, and the admissions desk.

To showcase the museum’s diverse permanent collection of design objects, DS+R developed site–specific, flexible, and modular display systems. One such case drew inspiration from the mansion’s rich history, replicating the original footprint of the gaming table in Andrew Carnegie’s former Billiard Room. Similarly, DS+R’s design for new SHOP Cooper Hewitt provides a contemporary interpretation of the former Carnegie Art Gallery space. DS+R, in collaboration with Local Projects, helped develop the concept for the Pen, which allows visitors to collect items around the galleries to make their own design.

DS+R also designed a new entrance canopy to the Cooper Hewitt mansion garden on 90th Street. Made out of painted steel, the canopy delicately slips through the pickets of the historic fence. Further contributing to the revitalization of the mansion’s public face, DS+R illuminated the historical piers on 5th Avenue. Inside the Great Hall, visitors are greeted by a new admissions desk—a sculptural counterpoint to the historic mill work.