SFMOMA’s “Designed in California” Explores the State’s Shifting Design Scene

Beginning in the 1960s, California designers began focusing more on socially and environmentally responsible design that was technology-based and often collaborative. “Retreating from the commercialism of modernism’s ‘good design for all,’ [they] … sought to design with more political, social, and environmental awareness,” according to SFMOMA’s website. The technological advancements that began around the same time accelerated design innovations in the commercial sector. An upcoming exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) will explore California’s shifting design scene since the beginning of the digital revolution.

Curated by Jennifer Dunlop Fletcher, the museum’s Helen Hilton Raiser curator of architecture and design, “Designed in California” narrates this story by featuring more than 100 items that have emerged from California, including Apple‘s Macintosh touch-screen tablet prototype (1984) and iPod (2001); artist and computer iconographer Susan Kare‘s sketch of the graphic user interface (1992) and magic link personal intelligence communicator (1994) designed for General Magic (a Mountain View, Calif.–based software company that closed down in 2002); artist and designer Lisa Krohn‘s Cyberdesk (1993); Tesla’s Powerwall (2016); Nest Lab’s Learning Thermostat (2012); and Google’s Home Mini (2017).

In addition to the wide array of the tech products featured in the exhibition, “Designed in California” also showcases contributions to the architecture industry, including Charles and Ray Eames’ office conference room (1947); “Make Your Own Real City” (1970), an architectural drawing by San Francisco–based, avant-garde architecture and design practice Ant Farm; “Nomadic Furniture” (1973–74) by James Hennessey and late Austria-born artist Victor Papanek; and “Our Theory is Pretty Simple” (1973) by American architect Sim Van der Ryn.

“Designed in California” opens on Jan. 27 and runs through May 27.