2013 Design Talks Series to Feature National Design Award Winners

Design Talks, a vibrant conversation and presentation series organized by the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, will run from March through May at the Cooper-Hewitt Design Center in Harlem in New York City. This year’s series will feature winners from the 2012 National Design Awards and focus on collaborative aspects of design.

“These popular talks, initiated by the late Cooper-Hewitt Director Bill Moggridge, open up a dialogue with industry leaders and designers on the latest design trends and philosophies,” said Caroline Baumann, acting director of Cooper-Hewitt. “It’s wonderful to have our 2013 slate of speakers featuring this year’s National Design Award winners.”

Clive Wilkinson, winner of the 2012 National Design Award for Interior Design, will be the first guest in the series, March 5 at 6:30 p.m. Wilkinson is an architect, designer, writer and strategist with particular expertise in the application of urban design thinking to interior design, specifically in workplace and educational communities. He has created unique spaces for Google, Nokia, JWT and Disney. The program will feature Wilkinson in conversation with Rosemarie Ryan, former co-president of JWT and co-founder and CEO of Co:, an advertising and branding agency, as they discuss the role of collaboration in designing for creative work environments.

Among the other featured award winners will be Tim Prestero, CEO of Design that Matters, March 28; Stoss Landscape Urbanism, April 17; and Mack Scogin Merrill Elam Architects, May 29. All programs will be webcast live at www.cooperhewitt.org/live.

The Design Talks conversation series is made possible in part by the Adobe Foundation.  

Program Registration

All programs will be held at the Cooper-Hewitt Design Center in Harlem at 111 Central Park North in New York. Advance registration is required at www.cooperhewitt.org/calendar. General admission, $15; senior citizens, $10. Cooper-Hewitt members and students are admitted free, with registration. Members of the press can RSVP to CooperHewittPress@si.edu. For further information, call (212) 849-8353.

About the Series

The Bill’s Design Talks series was started in spring 2010 by late Cooper-Hewitt director Bill Moggridge. The series has featured Chad Hurley of YouTube, Michael Bierut of Pentagram, Michael Graves and Acumen Fund’s Founder and CEO Jacqueline Novogratz, among others. To view previous webcasts from the Bill’s Design Talks series, visit www.youtube.com/cooperhewitt.

About the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum

Founded in 1897, Cooper-Hewitt is the only museum in the nation devoted exclusively to historic and contemporary design. The museum presents compelling perspectives on the impact of design on daily life through active educational programs, exhibitions and publications.  

Cooper-Hewitt’s main facility, housed in the Carnegie Mansion, is undergoing renovation as part of a $64 million capital campaign that includes enlarged and enhanced facilities for exhibitions, collections display, education programming and the National Design Library, and an increased endowment. During the renovation, Cooper-Hewitt’s usual schedule of exhibitions, education programs and events will be staged at various off-site locations.

# # #

SI-16-2013