Pirouette: Turning Points in DesignPirouette: Turning Points in Design is an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.[1] According to the museum, "the objects in Pirouette highlight the role of designers at their most inventive [...] and demonstrate the power of design to translate human experience into tangible forms and envision a better future."[2] The exhibition features "widely recognized design icons and those known to more niche audiences, highlighting pivotal moments in design history."[3] OverviewPirouette: Turning Points in Design opened in January of 2025 at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York.[2]  The exhibition was curated by Paola Antonelli with assistance from Maya Ellerkmann, and includes many familiar and iconic designs such as BiC Crystal pens, Post-it notes, M&Ms candy, as well as Susan Kare’s original hand-drawn artwork from the early 1980s for the first Mac OS icons.[7][8][9][10][11][12][1][2] In addition to these widely recognised cultural artefacts, the exhibition includes less well know designs such as Massoud Hassani's wind-powered deminer, the Doctors Without Borders middle upper arm circumference measuring device (a.k.a. MUAC "Bracelet of Life"), Sabine Marcelis's Candy Cubes, and the first 176 emojis devised by Shigetaka Kurita for NTT DoCoMo in the late 1990s.[13][14][15][16][1][3][11] More familiar works of 2D graphic design include the NASA worm logo, warming stripes graphics by climate scientist Ed Hawkins, and the I ♥ NY logo – displayed together with Milton Glaser’s original "back of a taxi" concept sketch for the iconic design.[3][15][17][18][1][11][4]  The broad scope of objects presented ranges from the original 1960s Sacco bean bag chair designed by Piero Gatti, Cesare Paolini, and Franco Teodoro, to the ubiquitous, mass-produced, and anonymously designed injection moulded monoblock plastic garden chair; from the creations of familiar names like Charles and Ray Eames or Virgil Abloh, to familiar objects by less know creators like Art Fry and Spencer Silver, Sara Blakely, Jerry Manock, or the Décolletage Plastique Design Team; from industrially manufactured products like a 1980s Sony Walkman portable cassette player, to bespoke, handcrafted, and experimental curiosities such as a chest of drawers by Tejo Remy titled You Can't Lay Down Your Memory, various objects designed by Christien Meindertsma and made from flax, as well as a macramé-carbon fibre chair by Marcel Wanders;[19][13][12][11][2] and from the patented and trademarked yet widely copied Moka Express coffee pot, to the freely licenced, open source, 3D printed Free Universal Construction Kit by Golan Levin and Shawn Sims.[21][22][23][24][25][11][1]  The objects on view are mostly from MoMA's collection and represent the work of 118 artists, designers, inventors, and other creators – an extensive display through which visitors are "guided only by wall text and interrupted by the occasional interactive installation" such as early 1960s View-Master stereoscopes.[27][26][28][11] Events including an Abecedarium during which "twenty-six designers, scholars, DJs, photographers, and entrepreneurs [discussed] one paradigm-shifting object or idea, each corresponding to one letter of the alphabet" were held in support of the exhibition.[29][30] The day-long series of talks, staged in the museum's Celeste Bartos Theater, presented audiences with "a steady stream of objects, voices, and perspectives" and an opportunity to "discover how objects and designs" from Post-it notes to the tampon "changed our culture and society."[30][29] Participants included Alice Rawsthorn (Q for Quotidian), Sarah Kaufman (U for Universal), Susan Kare (I for Icon), Norman Teague (C for Chair), Andrés Jaque (K for Kitchen), Brandon Blackwood (L for Luxury), and Caterina Fake (Y for Yesterday).[31][32] Reception and criticism The show has been described as an "ode to the power of design" which is intended to underscore "how important design is as a social force and a form of human expression" and "offers a captivating reflection on the power of design to change behavior", while other sources have observed that the exhibition "showcases the industrial design of our never-ending age of anxiety."[27][8][17] Mark Feeney, writing in The Boston Globe remarked that "both the deminer and Bracelet of Life leave considerations of mere aesthetics far behind. They’re a reminder that good design can be a literal matter of life and death." Feeney also noted that "some of the most striking and/or highest-profile designs in 'Pirouette' are incorporeal", referring to Glaser's I ♥ NY logo, Kare's original Mac GUI icons, and other two dimensional or computer graphic design works featured in the exhibition, such as "digital typefaces [...] the @ sign for email [and] Google map pins".[1][5] In reference to the inclusion of political provocations like the Gay Pride flag and "Mine Kafon’s giant, dandelion-like anti-landmine device", Architectural Record observed that "in a climate where even the most anodyne appeals for inclusion and peace suddenly seem so aberrant, Antonelli’s game feels like a surprisingly brave one."[27][16] The review also remarked that "putting the everyday, the ephemeral, and the commercial under the intellectual spotlight" shows to what extent MoMA and it's curator are willing to go in order to "broaden the purview of the institution – and presumably its audience".[27][33] References
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