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Libraries & Cultural Resources

Research Guides

Architecture & Design

This guide is intended to help you get started with your architecture & design research.

Design Museums

 

  • "Paintings, sculpture, decorative arts objects, works on paper, and other media, as well as objects in the collection of the Heinz Architectural Center "
  • "Dedicated to the Art of Design in all areas of the discipline: architecture, industrial, and product design, graphics, and urban planning."
  • Includes winners of the International Good Design Awards (New Product Design and Graphics) as well as applications for upcoming awards.
Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution (New York) 
  • "Product Design and Decorative Arts; Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design; Textiles; and Wallcoverings"

 

Danish Museum of Art & Design (Kunst Industri Museet, København)
  • "Canada's design museum and centre for design research and education
  • It is committed to raising awareness and understanding of design in all its forms"
Design Museum (London)
  • "One of the world’s leading museums of modern and contemporary design"
  • NOTE the Design Library, an online research archive of information and images on the designers, architects, design movements and technologies that have shaped design history: www.designmuseum.org/design

 

 

 

MAK: Austrian Museum of Applied Arts/Contemporary Art  (Österreichisches Museum für Angewandte Kunst, Wien)
  • Design collection
    "This collection concentrates on serially manufactured products of the 20th century and the ideas they express. Items by famous designers are collected, as well as anonymous, everyday objects. Designs and archive documents from major manufacturing firms complete the collection, which now comprises over 10,000 products and about 20,000 packagings."
  • Contemporary Glass Art (permanent collection)
  • Other collections: Design, ceramics, engravings, jewellery, Swiss Confederation's collection, textiles, and paper works
  •  Includes information on the three annual international Red Dot Design Awards for product design, communication design, and design concept, as well as the interzum award: intelligent material & design
  • Links to Red Dot museums in Germany and Singapore, and the European design institute Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen.
  • International Exhibition of Information & Communications Technology (annual event in Italy)
  • Annual SMAU Industrial Design award
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (Netherlands)

 

 

  • Visual arts image collections of posters, textiles, fashion, war museums, and more including:
    • Basic Design Collection of the National Arts Education Archive
    • Design Council Archive: Design Archives, University of Brighton
    • Design Council Slide Collection: Manchester Metropolitan University
    • Designing Britain: Design Archives, University of Brighton
    • Furniture from the Frederick Parker Chair Collection which demonstrate 350 years of British chair design and manufacture
  • "Search for over 27,000 works and over 43,000 images from the V&A's collections, including ceramics, fashion, furniture, glass, metalwork, paintings, photographs, prints, sculpture, and textiles."
  • "Vitra produces furniture by major designers such as Jean Prouvé, George Nelson, Charles and Ray Eames and Verner Panton but also works together with contemporary designers to make the home and work environments comfortable, productive and inspiring. "  See: www.vitra.com, which links to this international company's offices around the world.  Their webpages contain considerable content on designers and architects, e.g.www.vitra.com/designer/default.asp?lang=il_en
  • "In 1989, Vitra Design Museum was brought to life ...as a cultural institution independent from the Vitra company."
  • "The Vitra Design Museum maintains one of the largest collections of modern furniture design in the world, with objects representing all of the major eras and stylistic periods from the beginning of the nineteenth century to the present."
  • See section on Traveling Exhibitions

Design & Industrial Design Associations

International Council of Societies of Industrial Design: www.icsid.org
  • "A global not-for-profit organisation that promotes better design around the world. Today, Icsid counts over 150 members in more than 50 countries, representing an estimated 150 000 designers."
  • Note list of members
Association des designers industrial du Quebec (ADIQ) www.adiq.qc.ca

 

Association of Canadian Industrial Designers: www.designcanada.org/index.html

 

Association of Chartered Industrial Designers of Ontario (ACIDO) www.acido.info 

 

British Columbia Industrial Designers Association (BCID) www.bcid.com

 

Design Business Association (UK): www.dba.org.uk

 

Design Council (UK): www.design-council.org.uk
  • "Helping businesses become more successful, public services more efficient and designers more effective"
Design Management Institute: www.dmi.org/dmi/html/index.htm
  • An international nonprofit organization that seeks to heighten awareness of design as an essential part of business strategy
Industrial Designers of Edmonton Association (IDEA): www.theideagroup.ca

 

Industrial Designers Society of America: www.idsa.org
  • Includes bookstore, as well as information on ID programs, firms, careers, and jobs
Japan Design Foundation: www.jdf.or.jp/eng
  • "Committed to International Design Business Promotion Projects with the aims of promoting design-related activities and industries, fostering public awareness of design values, presenting future visions through design works, and accelerating international understanding and cultural development through global exchange programs."
Japan Industrial Designers' Association: www.jida.or.jp

 

National Association of Schools of Art and Design: nasad.arts-accredit.org
  • Includes accreditation information
  • Re: Swiss Federal Design Grants. Look for the publications highlighting winners in our and/or other libraries.

Libraries & Cultural Resources