Bill Moggridge speaking in Copenhagen

Honoring Bill Moggridge

From designing the first laptop to defining human-computer interaction, Bill Moggridge spent his career breaking new ground in design and technology

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Paint-on Hosiery During the War Years

A back “seam” drawn with an eyebrow pencil topped off the resourceful fashion effect

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What’s the Perfect Book to Get Over a Breakup?

Alain de Botton has provided a valuable service: giving reading prescriptions for a “shelf-help” approach to everyday problems

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New York Fashion Week, Past and Present

Since the mid-1940s, models of perfection in designer clothes have graced Manhattan runways every autumn

This summer, DNA 11 established the very first genetics lab devoted to art.

Genetics Lab or Art Studio?

DNA 11, based in Ottawa, has built the first high-tech genetics laboratory devoted solely to art making

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Why Do Students Give Teachers Apples and More from the Fruit’s Juicy Past

The perfect back-to-school treat has a colorful past that once brought the wrath of an axe-wielding reformer

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What Public Spaces Like Cleveland’s West Side Market Mean for Cities

They are more than just a haven for foodies — markets are “fundamental building blocks of urban life”

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Collage of Arts and Sciences: Now In Session

Our newest blog explores the fertile ground where art and science meet

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Stocking Series, Part 1: Wartime Rationing and Nylon Riots

As hemlines rose, DuPont’s wonder fabric was a sensation among women. But during WWII, it was needed for parachutes

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“Pattern and Snarl” – A New Poem by Amit Majmudar

Read the latest poem that was “inspired by a delight in design and pattern”

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How Steve Jobs’ Love of Simplicity Fueled A Design Revolution

Passionate to the point of obsessive about design, Steve Jobs insisted that his computers look perfect inside and out

Incredible Photos of the Artist Who Makes Himself Invisible

Look closely at these photographs. Shut down by the Chinese government, Liu Bolin has mastered the art of disappearing

gold belt terminus, seventh to sixth centuries B.C.

Spotlight

Los Texmaniacs: Texas Towns and Tex-Mex Sounds

Los Texmaniacs Release New Album

What does jalapeno-spiced polka music sound like?

Double Cross: The True Story of the D-Day Spies

D-Day Spies, Lost Antarctica, Eating Dirt and More Recent Books

A new history blows the cover on British spies in World War II

The architect Rem Koolhaas, 67. Koolhaas' habit of shaking up established conventions has made him one of the most influential architects of his generation.

Why is Rem Koolhaas the World’s Most Controversial Architect?

Age has not tempered the Dutch architect, who at 67 continues to shake up the cultural landscape with his provocative designs

From The Smithsonian Collections: Plastic Flamingos, c. 1980

The Tacky History of the Pink Flamingo

From its start in Massachusetts, of all places, to its inspiration of a John Waters film, the lawn ornament has some staying power

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Is Ai Weiwei China’s Most Dangerous Man?

Arrested and harassed by the Chinese government, artist Ai Weiwei makes daring works unlike anything the world has ever seen

Martin Amis, England's most famous living novelist, has just moved from London to the United States.

Martin Amis Contemplates Evil

England’s most famous living novelist has moved to America—and tilted the literary world

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As Long As Books Have Existed, Invisibility Has Been a Dream

We just have to look to literature to learn that there’s always been a real danger to the prospect of being invisible

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