Architecture and Design Collection April 30, 2010

The world's first curatorial department devoted to architecture and design was established in 1932 at The Museum of Modern Art. From its inception, the collection has been built on the recognition that architecture and design are allied and interdependent arts, so that synthesis has been a founding premise of the collection. The collection provides an extensive overview of modernism. Starting with the reform ideology established by the Arts and Crafts movement, the collection covers major movements of the twentieth century and contemporary issues. The architecture collection documents buildings through models, drawings and photographs, and includes the Mies van der Rohe Archive. The design collection comprises more than 3,000 objects, ranging from appliances, furniture and tableware to tools, textiles, sports cars... and even a helicopter. The graphic design collection includes over 4,000 examples of typography, posters and other combinations of text and image.