The shottering in 2016 of the MoMA Gallery, which is devoted to architecture and design, was mourned by many designers who believed that an important space was lost. The concept for integrating the design collection in a broader selection of shows was the specified goal and seems to be successful. Since January 2025, the renovated space has been a port for “good design” with the opening of Pirouette: turning points in designAn exhibition that emphasizes the design as an agent of change from curator Paola Antonelli, whose earlier thematic design explorations have rightly deserved praise. Until October 18, 2025, the exhibition contains a wide range of objects that largely come from the Moma collection and had a deep effect, be it on the design field or all over the world – including furniture, electronics, symbols, information design and much more – from the 1930s to the present day. Contains modern seeds that have grown into a homage to modernity. Some of these objects are generally recognizable, while others could only be known to a smaller audience of fans and experts. Some have changed behavior that embodies deviations from previous typologies and stereotypes or embodied innovations in materials, form or function. They have offered unconventional solutions for conventional problems or developed brand new, constructive problems that lead to new and further developed studies and solutions. The objects in the exhibition put together how design people help to bring about changes.
Today's interviewed Paola Antonelli, Senior Curator in the Department of Architecture and Design, has once again produced a small but large didactic masterpiece. You have until the next October, so don't miss your series.
pirouette is the typical design exhibition. Inspiration seems obvious in view of its passion for all design+society+culture, but how did this show develop into what it is?
What I tried in my career at Moma is not only to understand people the basic role that designs design in our lives, but also how an understanding and an literacy of the design are of fundamental importance in order to achieve the full agency as a citizen. If we understand how design works, where objects come from, how they are marketed, how they are designed, how they react to our needs or not, and what effects they have on the environment and other people, we can appreciate and push back if necessary.
At the first entry, the viewer sees the icons of Susan Kare for Apple. Why is that the first exhibition?
It's a great sequence, isn't it? Shigetaka Kuritas original emoji> Susans 1984 Macintosh Icons> Milton's “I. [heart] Ny. “Monumental examples of how objects can change society that stand on the wall in front of the Sony Walkman and the Macintosh 128k. Susan's icons are displayed on graphic paper with their original drawings – some framed and the others in a digital side converter. In a different exhibition, Never aloneMy colleague Paul Galloway imitated the design of the icons as if he were drawing them with MacPaint, the original 1984 program, to understand people what it meant to design on a 12-time 12 pixel grille at the Mac.
pirouette is also such a poetic title for this topic of objects that the world turns. What were your criteria for what was included? How simple or final was the process?
pirouette Is a title that conveys the idea of turning quickly while keeping your eyes forward, and the approximately 80 objects on the show, mainly from the MoMA collection, have turned either for society in general or for the design world through their influence. Objects such as the Sony Walkman or the post-IT note have direct effects, while for example, Shiro Kuramas Miss Blanche or Christien was also involved with other designers and from there to the rest of the world.
The selection process was as simple and difficult as the process of adding objects to the collection. It is an art museum, so it is important. Formal intention is a must, although we do not mean beauty. The opposite of beautiful is not ugly, it is lazy. And then of course work. And a feeling of time, a feeling of the future. We appreciate the environmental awareness of the property – or the lack of it – and the way in which materials and technologies are used. And so on and so on. But we always say that in the end there is a litmus test that really counts when you close your eyes and think that this object does not exist, would the world miss it?
I.YLF.]
The scarletly translucent fabric that separates many objects gives the entire room an essential shine. What was your intention? Was it like heaven?
Design curators are too eager to show as much as possible. In design exhibitions, we usually tend to collect objects with such a joy that reduce each other. Every single object in pirouette Instead, treats like a star. That is why the installation is so theatrical, with the walls that are painted like Japanese paint, and instead these dramatic niches in Flaming Crimson. There was an amazing team spirit, and the MoMA engineer, who knew all exhibitions of light exhibitions that I counted on them to achieve everything – and they did a fabulous job. We have isolated every single object and gave it an extended label that explains the story behind it and why it is a turning point. For some objects we have an excellent audio comment and four have original videos from the MoMA Studio. When you visit the exhibition page on the MoMA website, you will find them all. It is an exhibition that all MOMA muscles plays.
If you move through the paths of the diaphanic flowing curtains, you will see many familiar icons, including the rainbow flag. I agree that it is important, but not the peace sign of the same meaning?
Oh yes, the peace sign is very important, but um, it is not yet in the collection, I regret it. We will fix that. In the meantime, the rainbow flag is more important than ever due to the attack on bourgeois freedom and attempt, decades of progress that we see in the United States and in many other parts of the world, more important than ever. I remember how we accepted the flag in the collection in early June 2015, and just two weeks later the Supreme Court legalized the Homo -Ehe. It is an acquisition that reminds me that what we do in museums is important. And now more than ever. I read a book by Robert Jans, that is, Museums and social collapse: the museum as a lifeboat …
I had never seen the astronaut cup. Tell me what it means in the continuum?
No reason why we should not try to celebrate pleasure and joy if possible, and sometimes it only requires a little design effort. As the story says, the Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti wanted to have a good espresso in space. Not a boring coffee from a sad plastic bag with a straw, but rather the reality, with the nose making its part. That is why Astronaut Don Pettit has developed and manufactured a coffee cup that can use physics to use your advantage. When you pull your head back, the liquid lets the liquid flow up the vessel, it cools down exactly at the right point and then delivers it in your mouth.
Talk to a space travel, what is it with the NASA Worm logo that has a place of honor in the exhibition?
I love the worm because it was a heroic gesture that was misunderstood and abused. NASA employee hateful It. It was commissioned by the National Endowment for the Arts in accordance with the Federal Graphics Improvement Program (!) That tried to modernize the federal authorities of America and to embody the nation's youthful spirit and technological progress. NASA was selected as a pilot project, and although the new logo was accepted by the general public in NASA headquarters, many employees liked the worm intensive and longed for the former “meatball” from 1959 – a sphere of stars, a red Chevron and a comet that circle the acronym of the agency. When George HW Bush 1992 appointed Daniel S. Goldin as NASA administrator, Goldin announced the reintroduction of the meatball, accompanied by the dramatic explanation “Slowly it will die” with regard to the Worm logo “and will never be seen again”. And instead it is back!
Is there anything you didn't miss in the exhibition?
So much! We could have continued with a few other football fields of pirouettes – for example the hoodie, for example, Minecraft or their peace sign – but the beauty is that everyone who goes through the show is missing about what is missing, and if they do this, they will consider design as an agent of change. And my job will be done.
