Homework 1.3. Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum.

Image from https://brdrlss.co/cooper-hewitt/

The Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, located in Manhattan's Upper East Side, has made it a mission to integrate technology into both the exhibitions that they put on display and the viewing experience that they offer to their visitors. In my opinion, it is one of the most elegantly designed examples of a completely integrative technological experience within a museum setting; throughout their time at the Cooper Hewitt, visitors are encouraged to interact with technology in very natural and purposeful ways that enhance, rather than distract from, the experience of taking in the exhibitions.

From the moment guests enter, they are offered The Pen, which allows them to select various works that they encounter and enjoy (and might want to learn more about) as they make their way through the museum. The Pen is then returned at the end of the visit, but the guest can continue to go online at home and, using a url that is provided to them on their admission ticket, look up all of the pieces that they had "collected" throughout their museum experience. The Pen also acts as a stylus that allows guests to 'draw on' and select various elements of large digital tables that are stationed at various points of the museum, including near the first floor entrance and on the third floor, which typically houses traveling exhibitions, as well as the Immersion Room, which is yet another example of a fully integrative technological experience within the Cooper Hewitt.

Additionally, the museum consistently incorporates technology through the exhibitions that it has on display, either directly or indirectly. In the Process Lab, visitors are invited to directly interact with various elements of the exhibit; currently, the exhibition Hear, See, Play: Designing with Sound encourages guests to create their own purposeful sound elements for various objects and services (the bell of a bicycle, or the sound of a garbage truck, for example) that would then be incorporated into a hypothetical 'neighborhood.' This exhibit is thematically partnered with traditional works in the neighboring gallery, all of which deal with sound as it relates to society and social values.

Other exhibitions, such as Access+Ability, incorporate technology in ways that might not necessarily be interactive (though some interaction is still encouraged at points), but rather that very clearly inform the creation of the pieces on display. Items on display include a wheelchair that was designed for use on rough terrain, prosthetic limbs that have been elegantly designed and intricately laser cut or 3D printed, and a shirt that is meant to translate the experience of listening to a piece of orchestra music to the deaf through small embedded sensors. Technology plays an integral role in the design and functionality of these and many of the pieces on display at the Cooper Hewitt, and the museum continues to expand its collection in this vein.

The Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum very purposefully incorporates technology throughout both its exhibitions and the experiences that it offers. Through this mindful and approachable incorporation, the museum continues to encourage the successful partnership of technology and the arts.

                                                   ASSISTIVE DEVICE, K-2, 2016

                                                  WHEELCHAIR, MOTIVATION ROUGH TERRAIN, 2005

                                                                                               DRESS, KINEMATICS DRESS #4, 2015

Find more information at www.cooperhewitt.org!