Out & About

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The New York Sun

Gripping graphics, charming chandeliers, and ecologically advanced engineering were some of the achievements celebrated last night at the Smithsonian Institution’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum’s annual awards. “The museum helps place design as an activity at a more significant level,” said graphic designer and illustrator Milton Glaser, who received the lifetime achievement award.


Mr. Glaser described his person al style as eclectic. He named his poster for Bob Dylan’s “Greatest Hits” album as an example: “It’s a composite of many things: a typeface I saw in a barbershop in Mexico, a cutout by Marcel Duchamp, and the psychedelic hair styles of the 1960s.”


The winner in product design, San Francisco-based Yves Behar, recently designed a Swarovski chandelier lit from within. “I love to reinvest categories which have been stale and static,” he said. He’s currently creating new packaging for cereal and headache medicine.


William McDonough, who won the award in environment design, was the first to produce a green roof – it was made for the Gap’s headquarters in 1993. His latest eco-friendly project is for the Ford Rouge center, and features a 10-acre habitat to insulate the building and hold storm water.


Rick Joy shared the architecture award with the Polshek Partnership. Mr. Joy was a jazz drummer in Maine before he moved to Arizona to become an architect. He is working on a new building for the Denver Museum of Art.


From the start of her career, Yeohlee Teng has been recognized by the larger artistic community. Her work is in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Perhaps an exhibit at the Cooper-Hewitt is next – all the winners will be incorporated into the museum’s education curriculum in the coming year.


“The purpose of the awards is to raise public awareness of the role design plays in everyday life,” said the Cooper-Hewitt’s director, Paul Warwick Thompson.


The president of the museum’s board, Paul Herzan, said he left his job a couple of years ago to focus on the museum’s growth. “There’s a great opportunity for design to be recognized,” he said, mentioning the idea of “outposts” or “design pods” in key areas across the country, in addition to additional gallery space here in its home (a new basement gallery is opening soon).


The event raised $750,000. More than 500 guests received Coach bags designed by Richard Meier and cookies with Mr. Glaser’s “I ♥ NY” logo.


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