“Design Life Now,” a new survey of contemporary design in America, is the third triennial exhibition in the Cooper- Hewitt National Design Museum’s series. Sponsored by Target under the aegis of the Smithsonian Institution, the exhibition “celebrates the technological innovations, artistic evolution, and cultural impact of design,” and “reveals the nearly infinite ways in which design affects how we see, understand and experience our contemporary world.”

While it is true that design is a component in many fields of human endeavor, this triennial defines design in the widest sense; thus, almost any process or object qualifies for inclusion. Therein lies both the strength and the weakness of this marvelously entertaining but overly ambitious show. Is there really any connection, however tenuous, between book design and aeronautics? One might well question whether the museum is overreaching: How can a small institution like the Cooper-Hewitt seriously hope to do justice to such a broad range of disciplines, all of which have widely disparate functions?

ACCONCI STUDIO’S 2003 PODSHAPED “ISLAND” SPANS THE RIVER MUR IN GRAZ, AUSTRIA, AND HAS A PERFORMANCE SPACE, CAFÉ AND CHILDREN’S PLAYGROUND. THE DOME-AND-BOWL-SHAPED ISLAND, MADE OF INTERLACED STEEL MESH, GLASS, ASPHALT AND RUBBER, HAS BECOME A SYMBOL OF THE CITY.

The Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum is now a branch of the Smithsonian, but it originated as a modest collection of interior design-related objects (such as textiles, wallpapers and rocking chairs) assembled by industrialist Peter Cooper’s three granddaughters and located until 1976 on the fourth floor at the institution he founded in 1859, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York City (my alma mater). I remember fondly the hushed and darkened rooms where students could go to sketch from the objects, unhindered by guards (or many visitors). Today, the collection is housed in a land marked mansion on Fifth Avenue built in the 19th century by the Carnegie family, and the museum’s mission is far loftier than originally envisioned— it aims to be the ultimate arbiter of contemporary design and has chosen to encompass and evaluate a vast array of specializations including architecture, robotics, animation, fashion, medicine, military, theater and jewelry design, in addition to more traditional design areas such as graphic and industrial design.

”What is design, anyway?” might just as well be the title of this show. But never mind … there is plenty here to entertain, stimulate and enlighten every girl and boy. Though constrained within the Museum’s minimally modified residential structure, the exhibits manage to hold their own. Advice: Just go and enjoy the show. So what if the curators have struggled to find a theme to unite their choices (they admit it is a “subjective snapshot of the moment”)? It is a wonderful collection of oddly juxtaposed but mostly worthy-of- attention “stuff.”

KEN SMITH’S INSTALLATION OF BRIGHTLY COLORED FLOWERS ON MESH FOR THE EXTERIOR WALLS OF THE THE COOPER-HEWITT NATIONAL DESIGN MUSEUM TYPIFY HIS WORK: HE USES SPLASHES OF COLOR THAT REVEL IN THE REALM OF THE ARTIFICIAL TO DISGUISE AND CONCEAL URBAN SURFACES.

There are 87 designers or design groups represented in “Design Life Now.” The corporate world is well represented, as is the military/ industrial complex. As might be expected, Target has a stake in the show with its deservedly heralded ClearRx prescription system, designed by Deborah Adler: a redesign of traditional pharmaceutical drug packaging which incorporates color coding, hierarchically based typography, and reshaped containers to aid legibility and understanding, making mix-ups less likely. It’s unquestionably an important contribution to our quality of life and safety.

Some of the technology exhibitions feel decidedly dated. Google and Apple’s iPod series are so much a part of our daily lives that their inclusion in Design Life Now seems redundant. Indeed, technology— especially of the internet variety— changes at such a rapid pace that it’s understandable the museum has not been fleet of foot enough to stay current. But where is YouTube, which has been touted in every major media outlet including the cover of Time magazine? By the time of its inevitable inclusion in the next design triennial, this will be very old news indeed. The exhibition’s curators settled on their choices over a year ago, when YouTube was largely unknown and its influence was yet to be felt. But if the triennial is to be relevant, it must be responsive to the pace of change.

Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner promises to transform the air travel experience: quiet, spacious room-like cabins with far larger, electronically dimmable windows, total connectivity including internet access, ceilings which mimic daylight or evening skies, and increased air filtration and humidity. And we will have more time to travel, as our mundane domestic tasks like floor vacuuming and washing will be performed by iRobot’s Roomba and Scooba, elegant objects with “programmable efficiency.”

TOP: RON GILAD’S DEAR INGO LAMP LOOKS LIKE AN OVERSIZED CEILING SPIDER AND CAN CURL UP IN A TIGHT MASS OR UNFURL ITS “LEGS,” CATCHING THE SPACE UNDERNEATH IN ITS “WEB” OF LIGHT.