During my visit to the Cooper Hewitt Museum, I was astonished by the exhibitions and even the architecture of the mansion housing all of these wonderful collections.

I had never been to the museum and dare I say that I wasn’t even aware of what a Copper Hewitt was. After doing research I found that Peter Cooper Hewitt was an inventor and that his museum was founded by his granddaughters in the late 1800’s. Last week, I went to the museum with my classmates and Professor and spent about an hour browsing a few of the exhibitions. Luckily, with the advancement of obtaining information on display; all I had to do was tap my design pen on different works to read more about them leisurely at home.

One exhibit that caught ­­­my eye was the Models and Prototypes Gallery, which is currently on display on the second floor; donated by Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw. This particular exhibit caught my eye because I’ve always been enthralled with architecture and I immediately became mesmerized with the different wooden carved staircase design models displayed.

The staircase model shown above is a 3D representations of 18^th and 19^th century staircases crafted in Europe. There were also architectural model plans, drawings and prototypes of building structures alongside the presentations of staircases. Overall, the exhibit demonstrated that there was a learning process for which an apprentice needed to fulfill to become masters of their craft at carpentry and design.

Another exhibit that I was happy to witness was the room of Scraps: Fashion, Textiles, and Creative Reuse. This room is located in the Carnegie Mansion. I was especially attracted to the Table Mat, Metallic Patched, 2016; Designed by Luisa Cevese and Hosso Co. Ltd.  

While I’m partially obsessed with fashion, I’ve always acknowledged that fabrics needed to be recycled because of the pollutants it imposes unto the earth. It’s great to see recycling in fashion being exhibited in such avant garde ways such as the Bag with Zip, Square Basket, 2013.

Last but certainly not least, the Immersion Room was by far my favorite room. As I am a communication design student how could it not be? I didn’t just feel like I was apart of a different exhibit from the rest in the museum, I felt as though I was in a different museum all together or possibly a different world. In this exhibit, you simply use your design pen provided by the museum to sketch whichever design you choose onto a tech system. These designs automatically become projected onto the surrounding walls and becomes a temporary wall paper. You can also view popular prints within the museums permanent collection.

This exhibit is very interactive and gives you the opportunity to take on role as a designer.

My visit to the Cooper Hewitt Museum was well worth while. All three exhibits gave me an experience of multiple genres within the design world (architecture, fashion and digital) that I have never had before. I am inspired by what I have experienced within this museum and would recommend not just a fellow artist or designer or admirer but any and every person to visit.