National Design Week -- Oct 18 - 24

In honor of National Design Week and the National Design Awards, the Cooper Hewitt Museum of Design is opening its doors to free admission.

Beyond honoring the National Design Winners in New York, the Week is a culmination of educational events around the entire country. An interactive map of all the opportunities is featured here: http://www.nationaldesignawards.org/2009/nationaldesignweek

In NYC alone there are over 160 events affiliated with Design Week. Here are but two of the featured events:

I.
Today, Tuesday Oct 20, there will be a panel discussion with this year's Award winners.. and it's open to the public for free as well.

The official description of the event as per the Cooper Hewitt website is:

"2009 National Design Award winners participate in a panel discussion about their inspiration and drive as designers and the state of contemporary design in America. Please join us for this FREE event from 6:30 – 8:30pm at the New York Times Center"

Online Registration required (scroll down until you see the name of the event and follow the link provided). If you can't make it in person there will be a live webcast starting at 6:30 pm EST.

Here's a list of the winners who will be in attendance:

• Amory Lovins, Rocky Mountain Institute, Design Mind Winner
• Andrew Blauvelt, Walker Arts Center, Corporate / Institutional Winner
• Christopher Sharples, SHoP Architects, Architecture Winner
• Laurene Boym, Boym Partners, Product Design Winner
• Calvin Tsao, Interior Design Winner
• Jeff Han, Perceptive Pixel, Interaction Design Winner
• Steve Duenes, New York Times Graphics Department, Communications Design Winner

II.

Tomorrow's events (Wed Oct 21) include a film screening of Objectified -- a film about the design industry's interconnections with itself as well as the consumers who purchase their products.

The free film screening will take place at the Cooper Hewitt Museum at 1:30pm and 3:30pm. Online registration is required (scroll down until you see the registration link).

Beyond the special events, the Museum's current exhibition schedule and regular collection also promises to be interesting. Design USA: Contemporary Innovation showcases the design innovations of the National Design Winners from the last decade. Design for a Living World focuses on using sustainable materials in innovative ways (i.e. new function).

I haven't personally either exhibits but when I do I will post an update. Feel free to share your comments as well.