The Cooper Hewitt, New York
The Cooper Hewitt is a small museum tucked into a historic house in New York City. It's actually one of the Smithsonian museums, but I didn't even know that there were any Smithsonian's outside of DC. It's housed in the mansion of Andrew Carnegie, completed originally in 1902. It's a BEAUTIFUL house and a makes for a really interesting space to house a museum that included some of the most progressively innovative museum exhibits I've ever visited. This integration was pulled off seamlessly, which struck me as impressive yet, probably shouldn't have been more than expected coming from a museum focused on design. The Cooper Hewitt's attention to detail in their use of design and technology when putting together exhibits is really the standard all museums should be aiming for.
When you purchase your ticket (adult $16, student $7), the lovely people (really, some of the nicest welcome desk people I met in NYC) behind the desk given you what looks like an enormous pen. This pen is actually a digital tool; you can use it to interact with screens throughout the museum but even better, you can use it to curate your own online collection of your favorite objects and wall labels throughout the museum. You do this by pressing the end of your pen against little "+" symbols on each label. This gives you a really giddy feeling of power. Don't feel like reading that label right now? Don't worry about it! Just save it! Ok, so I definitely saved anything but caught my eye, but in all seriousness, this is still useful. All your saved things are sent to an online site that accessible to you alone through a code on your ticket.
The implications of such a tool in museums are immense. They provide an easy reference point for further research outside of the museum. It is also a potential solution for the problem of digital collections. The question since the birth of digital collections has always been, if you put all of your collection online, will people still come to the museum? I believe they would. But if you make them come FIRST and then give them to access to the online display, museum's wouldn't have to worry about it impacting physical attendance. Something I often find myself wishing museums had is a simple version of their exhibits online, so that after you visit them, and you're struggling to remember the name of that one piece or that one artist... you can just look back, and review your experience. This is probably a result of the luxury of growing up in the digital age but I'm sure other young individuals feel similar impulses. The primary argument against this is that putting whole exhibits online will completely dissuade people from visiting the museum. But in this case, they are only available after, you've already been there.
The Cooper Hewitt had lots of other excellent uses of technology and interaction as well. One entire exhibit on the first floor was an activity about improving unused spaces in communities, and focused on innovative thinking that would combine very different events or needs. It was pretty much an educational planners dream it was so well executed. There was clear evidence of it being used by people of all ages there. An interactive display in the room even lets you look at statistics gather from the other museum goers.
The topic of their other exhibit "Scraps" focused on the waste of the textile industry was fascinating and inspired greater thinking about the world. Upstairs they had an exhibit focusing on design throughout the decades. it included random scraps of fabric, furniture, posters...each set up like a tiny room. Then there was a second, small purely interactive room where you could design a wallpaper using the pen. The drawing you made was then multiplied over and over and and projected up on two of the walls. You could use multiple colors and line sizes to make tons of combinations and drawings. They had a sign asking people to limit their time there so that others could have a turn.
The museum store is full of really interesting design knickknacks and books (so many inspiring design books). A cafe is located on the ground floor.
Overall, really blown away by the design in the museum, it really lives up to its label as a design museum. It's super interactive and would be a great place to take kids (but i had as much fun as any kid i saw there).
When you purchase your ticket (adult $16, student $7), the lovely people (really, some of the nicest welcome desk people I met in NYC) behind the desk given you what looks like an enormous pen. This pen is actually a digital tool; you can use it to interact with screens throughout the museum but even better, you can use it to curate your own online collection of your favorite objects and wall labels throughout the museum. You do this by pressing the end of your pen against little "+" symbols on each label. This gives you a really giddy feeling of power. Don't feel like reading that label right now? Don't worry about it! Just save it! Ok, so I definitely saved anything but caught my eye, but in all seriousness, this is still useful. All your saved things are sent to an online site that accessible to you alone through a code on your ticket.
The implications of such a tool in museums are immense. They provide an easy reference point for further research outside of the museum. It is also a potential solution for the problem of digital collections. The question since the birth of digital collections has always been, if you put all of your collection online, will people still come to the museum? I believe they would. But if you make them come FIRST and then give them to access to the online display, museum's wouldn't have to worry about it impacting physical attendance. Something I often find myself wishing museums had is a simple version of their exhibits online, so that after you visit them, and you're struggling to remember the name of that one piece or that one artist... you can just look back, and review your experience. This is probably a result of the luxury of growing up in the digital age but I'm sure other young individuals feel similar impulses. The primary argument against this is that putting whole exhibits online will completely dissuade people from visiting the museum. But in this case, they are only available after, you've already been there.
The Cooper Hewitt had lots of other excellent uses of technology and interaction as well. One entire exhibit on the first floor was an activity about improving unused spaces in communities, and focused on innovative thinking that would combine very different events or needs. It was pretty much an educational planners dream it was so well executed. There was clear evidence of it being used by people of all ages there. An interactive display in the room even lets you look at statistics gather from the other museum goers.
The topic of their other exhibit "Scraps" focused on the waste of the textile industry was fascinating and inspired greater thinking about the world. Upstairs they had an exhibit focusing on design throughout the decades. it included random scraps of fabric, furniture, posters...each set up like a tiny room. Then there was a second, small purely interactive room where you could design a wallpaper using the pen. The drawing you made was then multiplied over and over and and projected up on two of the walls. You could use multiple colors and line sizes to make tons of combinations and drawings. They had a sign asking people to limit their time there so that others could have a turn.
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| Wallpaper fun :) |
The museum store is full of really interesting design knickknacks and books (so many inspiring design books). A cafe is located on the ground floor.
Overall, really blown away by the design in the museum, it really lives up to its label as a design museum. It's super interactive and would be a great place to take kids (but i had as much fun as any kid i saw there).
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