Right after that image of NASM circulated, the Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt Museum made an appearance in Big Think.
Sounds like big things are planned for Andrew Carnegie's old home.
Perhaps The Atlantic’s Robinson Meyer is right to tout that “The Museum of the Future Is Here” in the form of the new Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum in New York City. Don’t let the old-fashioned façade of the Andrew Carnegie Mansion (shown above), home to the Cooper-Hewitt, fool you. Beneath that façade beats a new, digital heart. Each visitor receives a “pen” with which they can access digital information on the works they see and “collect” them digitally to enjoy at home. Read the whole article to discover the multiple ways (including hopes of becoming a link “hub” a la Wikipedia, but for the arts) the Cooper-Hewitt has reached out to the digital world while retaining its physical tradition, but the money quote from Meyer is this: “The Cooper Hewitt has transformed into an organization not unlike Wikipedia, Pinterest, or, for that matter, The Atlantic: Somewhere between a media and a tech firm; it is a Thing That Puts Stuff on the Internet. Or, more precisely, A Thing That Puts Things on the Internet.” Maybe you can have your “stuff,” and be digital, too.
I made only a few trips to the Cooper-Hewitt—once during a raging snowstorm—and I really enjoyed working with the staff there, visiting the old (original, I think) storage facility for the Museum of the American Indian in the Bronx, and the chance to visit with a member of the St Louis Cardinals—my host at the museum was his uncle—during a Mets doubleheader. I think it's great that the museum is taking these steps, but I hope that Carnegie's imprint on the building remains.
