Topic: Cultural Institutions and Parks

Whose Park Is It Anyway?

What's Your Problem?READ»

Royal Honors for Starchitect I.M. Pei

Cheeky modernist I.M. Pei adds to his list of accolades with Britain's top architecture prize, the Royal Gold Medal. READ»

Piles Versus Files

Any way you stack it, some work is meant to be left out in the open.READ»

• Ellen Lupton's Design Your Life blog

Eddie Bauer's National Park Service

If the concept of a Pepsi-branded playground concerns you, our country's national parks could be next. In a recent article, Bill Berkowitz takes a look at the National Park Service's ongoing budgetary woes -- and early exploration of ...READ»

Seattle Reboots Its Future

The leaders of the city that Bill Boeing and Bill Gates built are asking what it will take to thrive in the 21st century.READ»

The Real Election: This year’s Coolest Design

Sick of the presidential campaigns already? Here’s an election worth tuning in for: the Cooper Hewitt’s annual People’s Design Award competition.READ»

2009 Association of Zoos & Aquariums Conference

Thanks to the rise of the staycation, attendance at the nation's 218 accredited zoos and aquariums has been holding steady. Ahead of its annual industry meetup, AZA spokesman Steve Feldman is trying to maintain his optimism: "We're ...READ»

Introducing Guest Blogger Ellen Lupton: Welcoming Design Into Our Daily Lives

When I'm taking a weekend away from work, the last things I usually want to grab for reading materials are the design books sent to me from publishers that march like a Great Wall of Nice Typefaces across my desk. But there was ...READ»

Masters of Design: A Jury of Their Peers

Introducing 11 jurors -- top leaders from universities, cultural institutions, and business -- who helped us select our 20 Masters of Design.READ»

Incoming!

Fresh faces from the front lines of design.READ»

What's In a Name -- Often Your Brand's Identity

An organization's name, logo, brand... their image, directly impacts peoples perception about it and how their products and services are valued. The same is true for museums.READ»

California Architectural Sites Threatened by Closing of State's Parks

California residents are fighting for their right to hike as yet another of the state's institutions is threatened by its ongoing budgetary woes. After a weeks-long standoff between lawmakers and Governor Schwarzenegger over ...READ»

A Problem-Solver's Guide to Copycatting

Instead, look for the folks who have already solved them.READ»

• Match Game

Gettysburg Battle Site Revamps To Attract Tourists

With a $100 million revamp, the Civil War site is fighting to get visitors to stay longer -- and spend more.,With a $100 million revamp, the Civil War site is fighting to get visitors to stay longer -- and spend more.READ»

• History, Redux
• The Top 10 Family Entertainment Attractions

Tuck and Cover

This contraption will keep your desk clutter- and cord-freeREAD»

Zoo Installs Electronic Polar Bears to Replace Real Animals

First we looked at an architect that wants to build a massive artificial mountain in the middle of Berlin. Now comes word that the St. Louis Zoo has decided to replace its polar bears with electronic replacements. Um, what? The ...READ»

Designing the Future

News typically doesn’t get blended in with art. Nor does the information in a lot of paintings, sculptures or other forms of art usually incorporate statistical or cerebral information. But an innovative new exhibit on display at ...READ»

Museums with a Mission

What's the purpose of a museum? The old answer: to house and to display dead stuff -- the museum as mausoleum. The new answer: according to designer Ralph Appelbaum, to experience life and learning. He creates museums with a mission.READ»

Paola the Populist

The design universe revolves around a woman who loves Q-tips, Post-its, and The Twilight Zone.READ»

An Unlikely Story

Boston's Gardner Museum, where not a frame has budged since 1924, is spinning out hot new podcasts.READ»

Free Advice

I was just wandering around the blogosphere, looking for good design-related blogs (nominate your favorites here), and found this collection of advice from designers, collected by Ellen Lupton, the curator of contemporary design at ...READ»

David Adjaye Chosen to Design D.C.'s National Museum of African-American History

Tanzanian born architect David Adjaye, working under the lead of Freelon Group, has been chosen to design the upcoming National Museum of African-American History in Washington, D.C. The pick is something of a surprise, since ...READ»

Global City of the Year: London

Where one of every eight works in a creative industry.READ»

• 10 Things You Don't Know About London
• Fast Cities 2008

Museum of Chinese in America Opens Doors

Picture it: a monolithic testament to Chinese culture in America, ensconced in the middle of New York's Chinatown and built by one of the leading Chinese-American designers in the world. This MOCA isn't in LA, Massachusetts, ...READ»

Design Thursday: Ingo Maurer's Light Fantastic

You may not know the name of Ingo Maurer, the celebrated German lighting designer, but you probably know his work. If you’ve ever been to New York at Christmas, and seen the UNICEF crystal snowflake that hangs at the intersection ...READ»