Design

Every three years, the Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt has its Triennial. Every three years, it is a mix of truly good sometimes great design along with examples of eccentric sometimes simple-minded objects and systems. The jurying process has always been questionable and less than transparent. Too often it seems friends of friends are chosen. This year the Tricentennial of the Unites States' design museum has gone global with designs from both emerging and industrialized countries. No other country's design museum would feature foreign designers. Instead, they would celebrate their own country's best design and designers. In addition, the exhibit is rather strangely laid out, captioned to confuse and badly focused. Other than that Mrs. Lincoln, how did you enjoy the play?

Universal design or accessibility for everyone is one of the major themes of 21st Century design. The other is sustainability. The United States is at the forefront of accessibility requirements worldwide. A recent Toronto conference focused upon Canadian issues regarding accessible wayfinding and ease of navigation in, through and around the built environment. Mark Favermann was one of conference's speakers.

Winter finally moves into Spring, Daylight Savings Time and NCAA Basketball March Madness are now being joined by a museum madness in Boston. News keeps coming about new museums promised, contracted and postponed in the Hub of the Universe. It is the Great Recession, resources are limited and apparently so are a lot of folks involved in the pursuit of the creation of new museums with or without actual buildings, collections or financial support. Does ego trump resources?

Gallery NAGA is presenting a spectacular benefit exhibition, for the North Bennet Street School to celebrate its 125th anniversary. Founded in 1885 in Boston’s North End to teach crafts – bookbinding, locksmithing, cabinetry, the making of musical instruments to immigrants, it has a long and distinguished history of training skilled craftsman. Twenty-seven studio furniture artists from throughout the country, including many of the most storied names in the field of studio furniture, are in the show. Generously, the artists and the gallery are donating 50% of the works' selling prices to the school.

Started in 1954, I.D. Magazine published its last issue in December 2009. To its loyalists including its rather inconsistent in quality and thought processes former writers and editors, it was a crying shame. They blamed a heartless and (gasp) an unsophisticated Midwestern philistine publisher, the Great Recession, severely reduced advertising revenues and the internet. Some others wonder why the New York-centric magazine's demise did not happen sooner. I.D. Magazine RIP.

The 2010 Olympic Winter Games opened in Vancouver on February 12. In the last 40 years or so, this has been an opportunity for a locality or country to showcase itself, among other ways, visually to the world. Billions of people are watching luging, triple toe loops and big air at remarkable speeds and often elegance by gifted athletes. This is an occasion for designers to strut their stuff as well. Vancouver 2010 seems to be a design opportunity lost. Too many cooks? No executive vision? Or too much television imaging? Vancouver 2010's "Look" just does not resonate.

Harvard's GSD is beginning a masters program that combines art, design and public involvement. The purpose of the degree focused on Art, Design and the Public Domain is for students who seek to engage with the public and social environment, either physical or virtual, with a view to shaping and transforming human action and historical experience. The three semester course is a multi-disciplined exploration of the social and virtual realms of the public environment from an art and design perspective. Will its direction eventually replace the MFA degree?

The designer of the first laptop computer (1980) Bill Moggridge was named Director of the Smithsonian's New York based Cooper-Hewitt Museum, the National Design Museum. He is the first designer to be given this administrative post. After a wonderful career designing strategic elements for a rapidly changing technological society, he will be attempting to add depth and breath to a museum that should better reflect our aesthetic as well as functional past, present and future. However, will the skills of the master designer resonate as a museum administrator or Smithsonian bureaucrat?

The Bauhaus 1919-1933 was the most influential school of avant-garde art and design in the 20th Century. It is famous for its faculty, students and its extraordinary cross discipline conversation about thee nature of art in the modern age. MoMA's exhibit is probably the best presentation ever organized about the quality, craft and depth of this visual and cultural dialogue. There is much to learn and see here. It should not be missed.