This Is for Everyone: Design Experiments for the Common Good

at Architecture and Design Galleries MoMA
February 14, 2015–January 01, 2016

This exhibition takes its title from the Twitter message that British computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee (inventor of the World Wide Web) used to light up the stadium at the opening ceremonies for the 2012 Olympic games in London. His buoyant tweet highlighted the way that the Internet—perhaps the most radical design experiment of the last quarter century—has created limitless possibilities for the discovery, sharing, and expansion of knowledge and information.

As we revel in this abundant possibility, we sometimes forget that new technologies are not inherently democratic. Is design in the digital age—so often simply assumed to be for the greater good—truly for everyone? From initial exploratory experiments to complex, and often contested, hybrid digital-analog states to “universal” designs, This Is for Everyone explores this question with design works from MoMA’s collection that celebrate the promise—and occasional flipside—of contemporary design.

Organized by Paola Antonelli, Senior Curator, and Michelle Millar Fisher, Curatorial Assistant, Department of Architecture and Design.

Architecture and Design Collection Exhibitions are made possible by Hyundai Card and Hyundai Capital America.