Many curtain-raisers for and reviews of the newly renovated and reconceived Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum have focused on its use of technology to make the museum interactive, participatory and therefore supposedly of more interest to young generations who are not satisfied with just looking.
One recent Saturday, I finally made it to this new incarnation to see for myself. I didn’t mind the interactive technology. I liked much of it. Some of it was fun to play with. At one station, I designed a lovely outdoor sculpture. I did not get a chance to try the much vaunted pens,  which “enables every visitor to collect objects from around the galleries and create their own designs on interactive tables. At the end of a visit the Pen is returned and all the objects collected or designed by the visitor are accessible online through a unique web address printed on every ticket. These can be shared online and stored for later use in subsequent visits.”
For a reason that was never truly explained to me, the ticket office was not able to print out a ticket for me and I was just waved in, penless.
But, no, it’s the not the technology that’s wrong with this museum.
The new Cooper Hewitt has two huge problems, however. First, the renovation misuses and disrespects its historic building, erected between 1899 and 1902. On the museum’s website, it declares otherwise, saying ” transformation of the Carnegie Mansion into a 21st-century museum respects the spirit and character of the landmark building…restoring key elements to their original grandeur while providing much-needed upgrades to lighting and signage, more flexibility to reduce installation time and better accommodate object handling and above all enhanced public access on every level.”
How does that description square with these photos I took, which place ugly display cases in awkward places and frequently obscures those historic elements?
First question: does this strike you as good design? It is a design museum, after all. And second, what’s the designers’and managers’ definition of respect?
I’ll deal with the second big problem at the Cooper Hewitt another time.
Photo Credits: © Judith H. Dobrzynski