Business
& Labor
Cooper-Hewitt Initiates National Design Week
(archrecord.construction.com - 10/17/2006)
By David
Sokol
Cooper-Hewitt,
National Design Museum has declared October 15–21 as National
Design Week—and politicians like Mayor Bloomberg have signed
official proclamations to that effect.
According to Cooper-Hewitt director
of education Caroline Payson, the initiative was hatched a
year ago, at a museum board retreat. “It was to really
focus attention on design and get people thinking about what
it meant to them.” Partner organizations have listed
corresponding events on an interactive map on the Cooper-Hewitt’s
website; Target is sponsor of the program.
Besides week-long free admission to
the museum, and tomorrow night’s presentation of the
annual National Design Awards Gala and first-ever People’s
Design Award, National Design Week represents a tremendous
educational outreach.
Payson and her colleagues took on the
Herculean task of creating approximately 70 lessons plans
in design and design thinking, which teachers may download
from the National Design Week website (http://ndm.si.edu/NDW/).
“In order to have content for teachers across the country,
we worked very closely with the professional development projects
this summer, both the “A City of Neighborhoods”
program and Summer Design Institute,” Payson says of
the research effort. Curricula is interdepartmental so that
design isn’t relegated to art class, and the site includes
discussion areas for teachers. “We hope to create a community
to keep in touch.”
On a similarly national scale, since
September web surfers have been invited to nominate and vote
for the People’s Design Award, a popularly elected honor
bestowed upon America’s favorite design object (or non-object).
“We’re hoping it will really encourage what design
means to them, and what kinds of things they like and admire,”
Payson says. “I think it’s just great for reinforcing
the fact that design is out there for everyone.”
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