Cooper Hewitt Announces Lineup of 2014 National Design Week Events Oct. 4 - 12
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum will host National Design Week from Oct. 4 through Oct. 12. Throughout the week, the museum will offer a series of public programs in New York for students, teachers, design professionals and the general public to celebrate the important role that design plays in all aspects of daily life.
Organizations and schools nationwide will also sponsor events, including a faculty exhibition at Minneapolis College of Arts and Design that “explores what makes us human,” a conference on interaction design in New Orleans and a tour of a fashion exhibition at the Honolulu Museum of Art, among many others. Events occurring across the country can be viewed on an interactive map.
“National Design Week is Cooper Hewitt’s largest public education initiative emphasizing the power of design, and it has a ripple effect across the nation,” said Caroline Baumann, director of Cooper Hewitt. “It is thrilling to see people of all ages embracing the week, with 300-plus programs taking place across all 50 states.”
The week’s events include a gala reception for the recipients of the 2014 National Design Awards on Oct. 9. For 15 years, the awards have recognized excellence in American design across a range of disciplines. The 2014 National Design Award recipients are Ivan Chermayeff and Tom Geismar for Lifetime Achievement; Witold Rybczynski for Design Mind; Etsy for Corporate & Institutional Achievement; Brooks + Scarpa for Architecture Design; Office for Communication Design; Narciso Rodriguez for Fashion Design; Aaron Koblin for Interaction Design; Roman and Williams Buildings and Interiors for Interior Design; Andrea Cochran Landscape Architecture for Landscape Architecture; and LUNAR for Product Design.
National Design Week public programs hosted in NYC by Cooper Hewitt are:
Target Design Kids Family Programs
Date: Sunday, Oct. 5
Description: A series of free workshops where kids ages 5 to 12 become designers and make fun projects all day. Advance registration required.
Hours: 11 a.m.–3 p.m. (multiple sessions)
Location: Cooper Hewitt Design Center, 111 Central Park North, New York City
Drop in on design: Family Programs with Etsy
Date: Monday, Oct. 6–Friday, Oct. 10
Description: A series of free afterschool programs where kids ages 7 to 12 explore design through fun hands-on activities. Advance registration required.
Hours: 4–6 p.m. daily
Location: Cooper Hewitt Design Center, 111 Central Park North, New York City
Design Tales Family Programs
Date: Tuesday, Oct. 7, and Thursday, Oct. 9
Description: A free literacy-based program for pre-school children and their caregivers incorporating storytelling, design vocabulary and hands-on activities. Advance registration required.
Hours: 0–11 a.m. and 11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.
Location: Cooper Hewitt Design Center, 111 Central Park North, New York City
NYC Teen Design Fair with Tim Gunn
Date: Tuesday, Oct. 7
Event type: 500+ New York City teens learn about design careers and educational opportunities from National Design Award winners, jurors and guest designers in short mentoring sessions. Tim Gunn will deliver the keynote address. Advance registration required.
Hours: 4–6 p.m.
Location: FIT, Great Hall, 227 West 27th Street at Seventh Avenue, New York City
National Design Awards Winners’ Panel
Date: Tuesday, Oct. 7
Description: A panel discussion with 2014 National Design Award winners about their inspiration and drive as designers. Panelists include John Edson of LUNAR, Aaron Koblin, Narciso Rodriguez and Robin Standefer of Roman and Williams Buildings and Interiors. Advance registration required. Hours: 7–8:30 p.m.
Location: FIT, Great Hall, 227 West 27th Street at Seventh Avenue, New York City
National Design Awards Gala
Date: Thursday, Oct. 9
Description: A gala benefit celebrating the winners of year’s National Design Awards, which honor excellence, innovation and lasting achievement in American design. Tickets available for purchase.
Hours: 6 p.m., Cocktail Reception; 7:30 p.m., Dinner & Awards Ceremony Location: Pier Sixty, Chelsea Piers, New York City
Target Design Kids Family Programs with Office
Date: Saturday, Oct. 11
Description: A series of free workshops offering families with kids ages 5 to 12 the opportunity to become designers and make fun projects all day. Advance registration required.
Hours: 11 a.m.–12:30 p.m. and 1–2:30 p.m. (multiple sessions)
Location: Cooper Hewitt Design Center, 111 Central Park North, New York City
National Design Week is made possible in part by the generous sponsorship of Target.
NYC Teen Design Fair receives additional support from the School of Visual Arts.
National Design Awards are supported in part by Procter & Gamble and Design Within Reach. Additional support is provided by Facebook. National Design Award trophies are created by The
Corning Museum of Glass. ndagallery.cooperhewitt.org is powered by Behance. Media sponsorship is provided by Smithsonian Media.
National Design Awards and National Design Week professional supporters include AIGA | the professional association for design, American Institute of Architects New York Chapter, American Society of Interior Designers, American Society of Landscape Architects, Council of Fashion Designers of America, Industrial Designers Society of America, Interaction Design Association and International Interior Design Association.
About Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
Founded in 1897, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum is the only museum in the nation devoted exclusively to historic and contemporary design. The museum educates, inspires and empowers people through design, presenting compelling educational programs, exhibitions and publications. International in scope and possessing one of the most diverse and comprehensive collections of design works in existence, the museum’s rich holdings range from Egypt’s Late Period/New Kingdom (1100 B.C.) to the present day and total more than 210,000 objects.
Cooper Hewitt is located at 2 East 91st Street at Fifth Avenue in New York City. The museum is currently closed and will reopen to the public Dec. 12, following a three-year renovation project.
For further information, call (212) 849-8400, visit Cooper Hewitt’s website at www.cooperhewitt.org and follow the museum on www.twitter.com/cooperhewitt and www.facebook.com/cooperhewitt.
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