Design with the 90%

The exhibition—a collaboration between the Gates Foundation and Cooper Hewitt—needed to accommodate a very eclectic mix of artifacts, materials, imagery, and statistics. Featured design projects from around the world ranged from a coffee-grinding bicycle to eyeglasses ​with liquid-filled ​lenses​ whose ​prescription​ can be changed on the spot.

We designed the exhibition to reflect the practical ethos of the content it embodied; it was entirely made of green and recyclable materials. Vitrine bases are made from industrial cardboard Sonitubes. Project displays are made of kraft panels, with text printed directly on the surface to avoid using plastic. Banners are printed on Tyvek, a material resistant to tearing. When the banners came down at the conclusion of the exhibition, they were converted into hard-wearing carrier bags ​by the Studio Matthews team.

“Studio Matthews’ exhibition design is a perfect complement to the spirit and broad scale of the design projects featured in the exhibition. They created a flexible and elegant approach that not only allows each [visitor] to share a distinct story and object, but also creates a simple framework for visitors to easily understand the overarching themes of the exhibition. The end result is both surprising and beautiful.”
—Aleen Adams, Curator of Exhibits and Senior Communications Officer, Gates Foundation