Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum Museum

Address: Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, 2 E 91st St, New York, NY 10128, USA

Website: https://www.cooperhewitt.org

Hours: Tue-Sun 10am-6pm, closed Mondays

Admission: $18 (adult, approximate)

The Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum is a museum dedicated to historical and contemporary design, housed in the Andrew Carnegie Mansion on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. The institution is part of the Smithsonian family and presents both a permanent collection and changing exhibitions that explore design across disciplines.

Galleries cover graphic, industrial, textile, furniture and digital design, with thematic displays that emphasise process, materials and innovation. The museum uses technology and interactive installations to let visitors engage with designs and collect information on objects of interest.

The museum occupies the early 20th-century Carnegie Mansion, a domestic landmark adapted for public display while retaining period interiors alongside modern gallery spaces.

Cooper Hewitt is located on Manhattan’s Museum Mile, on the Upper East Side of New York City, within easy walking distance of other cultural institutions.

• Carnegie Mansion and Smithsonian: Housed in the historic Andrew Carnegie Mansion on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, the museum is part of the Smithsonian Institution and specialises in design collections and exhibitions.
• Interactive and digital features: Features interactive galleries and a digital ‘Pen’ system that lets visitors save and export objects and details from exhibits.

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum is housed in the Andrew Carnegie Mansion on Fifth Avenue at East 91st Street on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. A convenient public-transit route is the 4/5/6 subway to 86th Street (Lexington Avenue) and then a walk west and north to Fifth Avenue and 91st Street (about 8-12 minutes on foot). The museum is directly on Fifth Avenue at 91st, so it’s also reachable by local buses that run along Fifth Avenue.

• Reserve a timed-entry ticket and arrive at opening to collect the museum's interactive Pen and avoid busy mid-day school visits; the Pen greatly enhances hands-on displays and is handed out at check-in.
• Allow time for the periodic design workshops and the Immersion Room - check the Cooper Hewitt website in advance and book any timed programs or studio sessions, as they often fill early in the day.