Cooper Hewitt

Cooper Hewitt appeals to the part of us that wants to understand why something works. A shape, a material or an everyday object can seem so familiar that we stop questioning it. A design museum gives us the time and context to look again, and to think about the decisions that brought it into being.

The setting is part of the draw. Housed in the former Carnegie mansion, with a garden beyond the galleries, it makes room for a different pace within a New York trip. We would give it a proper stretch of the day. There is as much pleasure in following one small detail as in seeing a whole exhibition, especially when it changes the way you notice things once you are back outside.

2 East 91st Street, New York, NY 10128.