With a crowd of talented design minds in the house, it helps to keep the look imaginative at the National Design awards at the Smithsonian Institution’s Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum. This year an unusual look in the dining space incorporated a simple, low-tech toy, and the after-party space employed basic construction materials.The event serves as an opportunity for the museum to recognize significant designers, patrons, and contributors to the world of design. A sampling of this year’s accolade-receivers included Paola Antonelli, curator in the Museum of Modern Art’s architecture and design department; the late Bill Stumpf, responsible for the Aeron chair (in collaboration with Herman Miller); and Nike Inc., which received an award for corporate achievement. Jodi Imburgia administers the National Design Awards program and worked with outside consultant Jenny Richter and the museum’s special events manager Julie DeSarbo.
David Stark of David Stark Design and Production took the humble Slinky and transformed the dinner tent with a collection of fun, decorative chandeliers constructed from the expandable toys. In addition to the large suspensions, Slinkys showed up within the cylindrical vases clustered for each table’s centerpiece and appeared as crafty name card holders. (Even the table numbers had a spring-patterned, zigzag typeface.)
For the after-party space in the museum’s lower level Target National Design Education Center, Richard Gluckman of Gluckman Mayner Architects used rigid insulation foam—a common building material—to fabricate a modern and sleek look and created benches and cubelike seats sculpted and cut from the stuff. EVA foam in shades of orange and light green covered the tops of the minimalist seating pieces. The long hall space of the education center was lined with billowing illuminated rolls of yellow and orange vinyl coated mesh, which was also used to adorn the ceiling. (To give the event an even more design-oriented twist, Michael Bierut, a partner from graphic design firm Pentagram, spun dance and old school hip-hop at the after-party.)
—Mark Mavrigian
Posted 10.25.06
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David Stark of David Stark Design and Production took the humble Slinky and transformed the dinner tent with a collection of fun, decorative chandeliers constructed from the expandable toys. In addition to the large suspensions, Slinkys showed up within the cylindrical vases clustered for each table’s centerpiece and appeared as crafty name card holders. (Even the table numbers had a spring-patterned, zigzag typeface.)
For the after-party space in the museum’s lower level Target National Design Education Center, Richard Gluckman of Gluckman Mayner Architects used rigid insulation foam—a common building material—to fabricate a modern and sleek look and created benches and cubelike seats sculpted and cut from the stuff. EVA foam in shades of orange and light green covered the tops of the minimalist seating pieces. The long hall space of the education center was lined with billowing illuminated rolls of yellow and orange vinyl coated mesh, which was also used to adorn the ceiling. (To give the event an even more design-oriented twist, Michael Bierut, a partner from graphic design firm Pentagram, spun dance and old school hip-hop at the after-party.)
—Mark Mavrigian
Posted 10.25.06
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Unique chandeliers made from Slinkys dotted the tented dinner area at the National Design awards.
The simple, expandable toys were also used as name card holders, as well as to line cylinders that made up the centerpieces.
Table numbers had designs that echoed the accordionlike Slinkys.
The dinner space incorporated approximately 2,000 Slinkys.
The after-party space had very simple rectangular and cubelike seating crafted from insulation foam.
Orange or light green EVA foam topped the sculpted seats.
Niches at the after-party also had long benches and monitors that showed the awards presentation.
