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Paola Antonelli has a litmus test for worthy design. People often ask the Museum of Modern Arts senior curator of architecture and design how she decides what to add to the museum’s collection, and she gives them simple instructions: Close your eyes and think, If this object did not exist, would the world miss out? she says. Of course, filling one of the world’s preeminent art museums is not quite that easy. Antontelli says you also have to consider an object’s form, function, and problem-solving utilitybut her litmus test is something she returns to again and again. It doesn’t mean that something has to be necessary, Antonelli clarifies. Take, for example, the Tamagotchi. Totally superfluous, she says. [But] I think it would be a pity that it didn’t exist, right? Antonelli is telling me this at a preview of MoMAs newest exhibition, Pirouette: Turning Points in Design, which opened on a snowy New York City Sunday. The show examines design objects as change agents that have had a deep impact on society, as far ranging as the humble Post-it note, first Apple desktop computer, and a portable handwashing station developed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Design changes human behavior, Antonelli contends, and this exhibition proves her case in dozens of design inventions. Objects have consequences, she says. That’s really, in a way, the motto for the exhibition. [Photo: Jonathan Dorado/courtesy MoMA] This isnt the first time Antonelli has examined the social impact of designers and the objects they introduce to society. She launched the content series Design Emergency with Alice Rawsthorn in 2020 to examine the many ways design solves problems in moments of crisis. The series later became a book. Designers are trained to traditionally and classically solve problems, Antonelli told me in 2020. Design is a word that is as big as art or culture, she added. So its difficult to say what design can do in a particular situation. But it definitely is a lot more than just chairs and posters. [Photo: Jonathan Dorado/courtesy MoMA] Pirouette encompasses, yes, chairs (the Eamess RAR rocking armchair; the Monobloc chair; the Aeron office chair, to name a few) and posters (okay, lets say signs: a parking sign; a route sign for British roadways) but also a wide range of objects pulled mostly from MoMAs collection spanning furniture, electronics, symbols, fashion, wearables, industrial design, product design, and information design from the 1930s to the present. Milton Glaser, I NY concept sketch, 1976, the Museum of Modern Art, New York [Photo: 2024 NYS Dept. of Economic Development] The I love New York concept sketch, NASA worm logo, Tabi boots, Crocs, a Telfar bag, a Bic pen, an infographic depicting Brazils deforestation rates: What these objects have in common is their invention. They changed the way people thought, saw, or interacted with the world. They all represent experiments with new materials, technologies and concepts, and offer unconventional solutions to conventional problems, reads part of the exhibitions opening text. In these objects, designers have channeled their vision and ingenuity, distilling energy into momentum and setting them in motion like ballet dancers performing pirouettes. Ed Hawkins, Warming Stripes 1850-2023, 2018-ongoing [Image: Ed Hawkins] I asked Antonelli how she curated an exhibition with such a range of seemingly unrelated objects. In some cases, it’s very free-flowing. It’s almost like word association, she says. In others, it’s really juxtapositionand putting objects into conversation with each other. I pointed out how she had situated a pair of Crocs, Tabis, a Telfar bag, and a plastic Monobloc chair near each other in one corner of the exhibition. The Telfar bag is there, and the conversation that it’s having really directly, in my opinion, is with the Margiela Tabis. But also it’s having a conversation with the Crocs next to it because Telfars motto is This is not for you, it’s for everyone. So there’s also this idea of making things for everybody. Antonelli then connects the Crocs and Monoblo chair. They’re so ambiguous, she says. [Theyre] amazing mass products enjoyed by billions of people. But they also have this flip side. The Monoblock chair has become almost synonymous with waste and with consumerism, she says. Meanwhile, Crocs are at the center of an eternal discussion that gives the design tension: Are the Crocs beautiful? Are they ugly? There are all these different associations that somebody like you, who’s conversant in design might catch, she says. Others who are less erudite, because everybody knows design, will catch them anyway, but at a different level. And maybe they will not catch them at all, but they will focus on every single object. Shigetaka Kurita, Emoji, 1998-1999, the Museum of Modern Art, New York [Image: 2024 NTT DOCOMO] Each object, Antonelli sayswhether M&Ms candies, a Moka Express, Sony Walkman, or Bernadette Thompsons money manicure artificial nailsshifted the way we operate in the world. Some designs are so intuitive and intrinsic to our day-to-day lives as to be imperceptible, like the flat-bottomed paper bag. Other objects are more subtle and esoteric, like Sabine Marceliss resin Candy Cube, which might have an effect on other designers and percolate into society that way. As she said of information design in 2020: Our actions dont have reactions in a very unequivocal way, but rather have reverberations that can go in many directions. [Photo: Jonathan Dorado/courtesy MoMA] The exhibition text warns that objects have the power to shift the ways we behave, for good and for bad. The objects in this exhibition exemplify human ingenuity, providing new answers to previously unsolved challenges that you can see with your own eyes. Some of those solutions, like the injection-molded plastic Monobloc chair invented in the 1950sa quintessential mass-market product that provides people around the world an easy to clean and cheap place to sithave consequences that aren’t so black and white as good and bad. It’s always time to make people understand how important design is, Antonelli says. But right now, I would love people to have something constructive to think about. Design is a lens to look at the world in a constructive way. It’s a beautiful expression of human creativity, positively directed, in the case of the objects that are in this exhibition, at least.
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Starbucks’s new CEO, Brian Niccol, made a bet last September that the company could draw customers back into its stores by reintroducing personal touches you might see at smaller, third-place sort of coffee shops, like handwritten names on to-go cups. Here we are about four months later, and Starbucks has beaten Wall Street expectations, announcing $9.4 billion in revenue for the fourth quarter of last year during its earnings call Tuesday. Niccol attributed the chain’s performance to “getting Back to Starbucks and those things that have always set us apart. (Though it’s worth noting that the companys sales are still down year over year.) Starbucks developed a back-to-basics approach to reintroduce itself to consumers. Changes include a simplified menu, a new no-loitering policy, an expanded refill policy, ceramic mugs for in-café sipping, and the return of handwritten notes on to-go cups to better connect with customers and elevate the café experience for those who choose to stay and work,” Niccol said. The strategy comes after the chain experienced falling sales at its struggling coffee shops due to factors like rising prices and longer wait times. Niccol, a former Chipotle CEO, wrote in a letter after assuming the top post at Starbucks that its stores “have always been more than a place to get a drink, but admitted that the company hasn’t always delivered on that experience and that telling its story would be part of its comeback. Bringing back handwritten notes on coffee cups is the focus of a new ad spot launched last weekend. Set to the 2008 hit That’s Not My Name by the Ting Tings, it shows baristas putting pen to coffee cup to write out messages like “Let’s goooo!” and “Shine on.” The closing message is “Your pick-me-up is ready,” with “pick-me-up” styled to look like it’s written out by hand. Ad agency Anomaly developed the spot, which received mostly positive reactions online, even among people who said they didn’t like Starbucks coffee. At least when it comes to ecommerce, a study published in the Journal of Interactive Marketing in 2022 found that handwritten thank-you notes have the potential to double future sales. “Despite the technological advances in online retailing, the human touch continues to be essential to relationships between retailers and customers,” the study’s authors wrote. Improving its app is another step Starbucks says it’s taking as part of its comeback, but a simple analog solution could also prove useful. Might what works for online retailers prove equally successful for selling Iced Brown Sugar Oatmilk Shaken Espressos? Starbucks certainly hopes so.
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As climate change causes increasingly severe natural disasters, its also increasingly threatening our art, culture, and shared history. In the recent Los Angeles wildfires, billions of dollars in fine art may have been consumed; architectural gems by Richard Neutra, Gregory Ain, and others were destroyed; and the warehouse of Belmont Music Publishing, a repository chronicling Austrian-American composer Arnold Schoenberg, was lost in what the composers son called a profound cultural blow.” For museums, archives, and libraries, which often operate as nonprofits on limited budgets, meeting these increased risks poses significant financial constraints. This challenge has sparked global efforts to bolster the resilience of a range of cultural artifacts. Weve now had three pretty large fires in a row, starting with the 2021 Marshall Fire in Colorado, to Lahaina in Hawaii in 2023, and now L.A., said Christina Cain, emergency programs manager for the Foundation for Advancement in Conservation (FAIC). Unfortunately, this isnt going away. More than half of U.S. galleries, libraries, archives, and museums reported increased water and moisture damage between 2017 and 2019, with 10% of that coming directly from natural disasters. Climate change mapping by the FAIC has shown that coastal areas and those near rivers remain at high risk of flooding. A third of U.S. museums reside within 62 miles of the coast, according to Elizabeth Merritt, the in-house futurist at the American Alliance of Museums. Studies from Greece and elsewhere have shown that changing climates, especially increased heat and humidity, will take a toll on ancient monuments, buildings, and artworks. A conservator stabilizes the surface of a painted wooden boat model from Egypt. [Photo: Penn Museum] The initiatives working to combat ths are as varied as the sites, collections, and cultural treasures theyre meant to protect. Theres even a National Heritage Responders helpline in the U.S., a phone and email resource staffed with conservation experts meant to provide institutions with emergency assistance before, during, and after disasters. Cain worked the phone lines during wildfires in her home state of Colorado; during the Marshall Fire, she assisted curators at the Superior Historical Museum, which was consumed by the blaze. In addition to helping them find professionals for salvage operations, figure out how to deal with smoke damage, and process insurance claims, Cain also helped other museums in the pre-evacuation zone prepare in case the fire spread. There has long been an understanding that artwork, institutions, and cultural sites are threatened by natural disasters. In 1966, the Arno River flooded its banks in Florence, Italy, submerging churches, museums, and storehouses of historical treasures with up to three meters of mud. The work of volunteers and citizenscalled angeli del fango, or the Mud Angels, became an international story. More than half a century later, such storms have become more common and severe. In 2018, Hurricane Maria wreaked havoc on Puerto Ricos cultural scene; many institutions sustained millions of dollars in damage, with curators trying to limit the long-term impact. At one contemporary art museum, workers cut vents into the wall to allow air to circulate, preventing art-wrecking mildew and humidity from building up in a building bereft of mechanical systems. Historic Buildings and Sites’ staff assessing the Interior Cupula at the Puerto Rico State Capitol in March 2022. The assessment included a detailed report on the conditions of Venetian mosaics, ornamental plasterwork, and stained glass elements. [Photo: Héctor J. Berdecía-Hernández/CENCOR/Centro de Conservacion y Restauracion de Puerto Rico.] The recent Los Angeles wildfires, which spread to dense urban neighborhoods, have been a worrisome development, says Sarah Sutton, cofounder and CEO of Environment and Culture Partners, which focuses on the cultural sectors environmental leadership. They underscore how climate change has placed more areas where we liveand store our records and artifactsin harms way. Rising awarenessand sea levelshave meant some sites have received` outsized attention, and expensive investments in resiliency. The Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. is building a system of flood gates and stormwater systems, while San Franciscos Ferry Building may be lofted up to seven feet by the Army Corp of Engineers in an effort to protect it from rising sea levels, part of a proposed $13.5 billion waterfront protection plan for the city. This kind of engineering feat, however, isn’t possible for the vast majority f sites. For other institutions, the typical playbook involves revisiting disaster and evacuation plans and creating more sustainable operations. Many have taken to hardening existing structures to help prevent flooding and wind damage. In 2021, for instance, Miamis Vizcayaa landmark 1916 home and garden on the waterfrontinstalled a system of Tiger Dams, water-inflatable tubes to prevent flooding, to protect the grounds from hurricane storm surges. Groundskeepers have also slowly swapped out plants across the site, planting gardens that can better handle saltwater infiltration. And in 2019, a floating flood wall installed at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. helped protect the Bill of Rights and other treasures from flooding. Alternatively, museums can invest in shoreline restoration and natural defenses to absorb floodwaters. In 2023, the Ford House museum and residence on Lake St. Clair in Michigan was awarded a $7 million grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to restore damaged coastline, which will stop erosion, absorb floodwaters, and better protect the site. The Ford House museum. [Photo: Andrew Jameson/Wiki Commons] Digitizing collections to serve as a backup is also something that is underfunded and underappreciated; many small museums have their databases on site. Communicating proactively with local emergency management professionals can help make them aware of at-risk collections and include them in the institution’s own evacuation planning. Curators have also moved collections from basements to upper levels, and even created the museum equivalent of a go bag, storing the most important artifacts in a way that makes it easy to pick them up and move when disaster strikes. UNESCO, the United Nations cultural heritage organization, recently held a global conference, Fire Resilience for Heritage in a Changing Climate, which included the release of best practices for prevention, including how to develop fire risk management plans and how to integrate Indigenous and native knowledge to manage landscapes for fire prevention. There’s funding available to help institutions plan for disaster: The National Endowment for the Humanities offers grants for its Resilience Resources project, and some states, like Colorado, offer their own grants. In Alaska, which has some of the fastest-rising temperatures due to climate change, the National Park Service has enlisted Inflation Reduction Act funds to help prepare historic sites for climate shifts by collaborating with tribal elders to map out key monuments and utilize Indigenous knowledge to protect the landscape. Like with the wider impact of climate change, the damage will be spread in an inequitable manner, in many cases threatening smaller institutions that don’t have the resources to adapt. When you lose a small-town history museum, which had archives about that town and collections from families that had been there for decades, its irreplaceable and heartbreaking, said Cain. You cant tell the story of that place without them. Without them, is there a community? What holds that town together?
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