Past Exhibitions | Smithsonian Institution

Man Transforms: Aspects of Design

Enjoy fresh insight into the causes and effects of design in this inaugural exhibition created by an international team of artists, architects and designers.

October 7, 1976 – February 6, 1977

Cooper Hewitt Design Museum

Architectural Drawings from 19th Century Berlin

See Cooper-Hewitt's contribution to a city-wide celebration Berlin--Profile of a Metropolis, sponsored by Goethe House, New York.

April 11, 1977 – April 29, 1977

Cooper Hewitt Design Museum

The Royal Pavilion at Brighton

Trace the evolution of the British royal pleasure palace, beginning with its simple 'farmhouse' concept, through its brilliant and scandalous heyday, to its neglect under Victoria and ending with its restoration in this century.

March 3, 1977 – May 23, 1977

Cooper Hewitt Design Museum

The Carnegie Mansion

Follow the Mansion's 75-year history, including two major renovations, through drawings and photographs.

June 7, 1977 – July 3, 1977

Cooper Hewitt Design Museum

200 Years of American Architectural Drawing

Focus on architectural drawings for their aesthetic value in this exhibition of 200 drawings by more than 80 architects.

June 7, 1977 – July 17, 1977

Cooper Hewitt Design Museum

Palaces for the People

Capture the qualities of flamboyance, fantastic spaces and extraordinary use of materials used in American resort and motel architecture through photographs, drawings, postcards, slides and models.

July 12, 1977 – September 18, 1977

Cooper Hewitt Design Museum

Palladio

See 16 large wooden models, constructed in Italy, of villas and churches designed by Andrea Palladio (1508-1580).

June 7, 1977 – October 5, 1977

Cooper Hewitt Design Museum

To Celebrate the Moment

Consider objects carefully designed to serve one occasion: stamps, stationery, birthday cakes, graduation robes, paper cups and plates, airline tickets, daily newspapers, etc.

November 23, 1977 – January 8, 1978

Cooper Hewitt Design Museum

More Than Meets the Eye

See nearly 400 objects from the Cooper-Hewitt holdings, that demonstrate categories such as Surface Embellishment, Sources of Design, Fun and Fancy, and Patrons and Clients.

November 15, 1977 – February 12, 1978

Cooper Hewitt Design Museum

Subways: An Underground Exhibition

See photographs, maps, graphics and text that examine subway station design and architecture; building and operating subways; using the subway; and urban activity on and under the surface.

December 8, 1977 – February 28, 1978

Cooper Hewitt Design Museum

Place, Product, Packaging

View historical photographs, logos and designs for buildings showing enterprises that have employed an integrated design program in the promotion of a product, service, or experience.

January 20, 1978 – March 19, 1978

Cooper Hewitt Design Museum

20th Century Stage and Costume Design

See about 1000 original costume and scenic designs for major opera and ballet productions as well as for musical comedies, for sale in the Design Sales Gallery.

April 1, 1978 – April 30, 1978

Cooper Hewitt Design Museum

The Museum of Drawers

Examine 20 drawers, each containing 25 compartments, full of the miniature works of 500 architects and artists.

March 21, 1978 – May 7, 1978

Cooper Hewitt Design Museum

Look Again

View a second group of about 500 objects from Cooper-Hewitt collections, including drawings and prints, textiles, wallpaper, furniture, ceramics and glass.

March 15, 1978 – May 15, 1978

Cooper Hewitt Design Museum

The Celebration of Water

Take a look at the design of facilities for the use and enjoyment of water: bathrooms, swimming pools, fountains, and water tanks atop buildings.

June 13, 1978 – August 6, 1978

Cooper Hewitt Design Museum

Embroidery through the Ages

See a two-part exhibition of 14th-20th century embroidered items from Europe.

June 6, 1978 – September 3, 1978

Cooper Hewitt Design Museum

Looking at L.A., An Exhibition Organized by Environmental Communications

Visit a slide and video presentation of Los Angeles' life style.

July 18, 1978 – September 17, 1978

Cooper Hewitt Design Museum

Form Follows Film

Visit a photographic exhibit, including stills of movie sets, which shows the movies as arbiter of taste in architecture and interior design.

August 15, 1978 – October 7, 1978

Cooper Hewitt Design Museum

Cross Currents

See 135 Neo-classical prints and drawings from the Cooper-Hewitt collections.

September 19, 1978 – November 5, 1978

Cooper Hewitt Design Museum

Ornament in the Twentieth Century

See ornaments for the human body, objects of daily use, posters, packaging material, corporate logos and designer initials, and ornamental aspects of garden and plaza design.

October 3, 1978 – January 7, 1979

Cooper Hewitt Design Museum

The Shopping Bag: Portable Graphic Art

Admire 100 20th-century shopping bags as well as rare examples of their 19th-century precursor, the bandbox.

December 9, 1978 – January 27, 1979

Cooper Hewitt Design Museum

Vienna Moderne: An Exhibition of the Arts of the Vienna Workshops

Visit all types of decorative arts, paintings, graphics and architectural drawings, created by the "Vienna Secession", members of the Austrian turn-of-the-century art nouveau movement who questioned the validity of ornamentation.

November 21, 1978 – February 4, 1979

Cooper Hewitt Design Museum