Why design now?

• Author: Laurie A. Olivieri
• Position: Senior Press Manager, Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum
• Pages: 24-26

Photos: fuseprojectPhoto: David Chavez

Why Design Now? That is the question answered

in the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum

exhibition running from May 14, 2010, to January

9, 2011, in New York. The exhibition explores the

work of designers in responding to human and

environmental problems across many fields –

from architecture and product design to fashion,

graphics, new media and landscape design.

“Why Design Now?“ examines why “design think-

ing“ is essential in addressing some of today’s

most urgent challenges; what draws creative

thinkers and problem solvers to this cutting-edge

field; and why business leaders, policymakers,

consumers and citizens should be aware of the

importance of design. The exhibition will present

key developments in the areas of: communica-

tion, community, energy, health, materials, mobil-

ity, prosperity and simplicity.

Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum

(www.cooperhewitt.org)

2 East 91st Street at Fifth Avenue New York

Hours: Monday-Friday, 10h-17h;

Saturday, 10h-18h; Sunday, 12h-18h

Communication

Smart phones, digital reading devices and social

networks are changing the way people use and

produce information. Designers are helping peo-

ple to have greater access to information on the

critical issues affecting the world by making the

visualization of complex data easier and deliver-

ing urgent messages about safety, equality and

the environment. Works exhibited include:

One Laptop per Child’s XOXO laptop, d e-

signed by Yves Béhar specifically for the devel-

oping world  it can be held flat, angled or like

a book;

Etsy, a global online marketplace for craftsper-

sons, artists and designers that is also an inter-

nationally registered trademark (Madrid

912704) and the subject of a PCT application

(WO 2008/089475); and

the Etón FR 500 radio, an emergency radio

charged via hand crank or solar panel, which

works when or where the energy grid fails to

function.

Community

In response to the expanding sprawl of cities in

the developed world and escalating urban densi-

ty in developing areas, architects – whose works

are protected by copyright – are creating rooftop

villages, urban farms and mixed-use housing de-

velopments that employ local materials and en-

courage harmonious, energy-efficient living at

close quarters. Highlights of the design projects

on view include:

H20tel, the first hydrogen-powered hotel;

vertical farming initiatives, such as the Eco-

Laboratory; and

WHY DESIGN NOW?

JUNE 2010

24

The Why Design Now? exhibition will spark the interest of WIPO Magazine readers already familiar with

the intellectual property (IP) tools that serve the international design community – the Hague System for

the registration of industrial designs, the Madrid System for the registration of trademarks, the Patent

Cooperation Treaty (PCT) for the protection of inventions and the Berne Convention for copyright pro-

tection. The exhibition features over 130 projects. Some have already appeared in the WIPO Magazine,

but most are new to our pages. This article was written by Laurie A. Olivieri, Senior Press Manager,

Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum.

OLPC (One Laptop per

Child) XOXO Laptop,

prototype.

Haptica Braille

timepiece by David

Chavez.