Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater

Judy Cheteyan Collections Internship

In the summer of 2020 I was fortunate enough to work along the talented Preservation and Collections department at Fallingwater. Due to COVID-19 safety protocols the internship was 90% remote and 10% on-site. The nature of remote access did not allow for processing work traditionally completed by Collections Interns, alternatively my project focused on the transcription and organization of information from a part of the collection as well as background research.

Good Design at MoMA

Throughout the internship I worked with MoMA ‘Good Design’ materials from Edgar Kaufmann, jr.’s (EJK, jr.) time at MoMA as the Director of the Industrial Design Department. MoMA’s ‘Good Design’ program has its roots in the museum's engagement with modern design as early as the 1930’s, but matured following WWII with design competitions in textiles, low-cost furniture, and lighting; an internationally touring Design for Use exhibition; and the Good Design exhibition series from 1950-1955 curated by EJK, jr. in collaboration with the Merchandise Mart in Chicago.

EJK, jr.’s unique background in fine arts, architecture, and retail gave him an edge as the curator of the series, in which he focused on aesthetics, functionality, construction, and a range of prices. Although the series was in part meant to highlight American Industry, EJK, jr. included many items from European designers – primarily Scandinavian – to create a focused aesthetic that reflected the spirit of international collaboration and camaraderie of the time. Items in the ‘Good Design’ program were displayed in retail exhibitions at partner, the Merchandise Mart in Chicago, with standout items curated by EJK, jr. as a culminate exhibition at MoMA each winter.

Using exhibition catalogues and checklists from the ‘Good Design’ 1950-1955 culminate exhibitions at MoMA I transcribed and created searchable master checklist for the Collections Department at Fallingwater. The ‘Good Design’ Master Checklist will enable the Collections Department to identify connections between EJK, jr.’s professional career, social life, and the selection of art, textiles, furniture, and functional objects that he acquired for the collection at Fallingwater.

During the five years that EJK, jr. oversaw the ‘Good Design’ program, the culminating exhibitions featured:

• 1,414 individual recorded items ranging from textiles and tableware’s to large furniture pieces, sporting goods, and domestic appliances such as dishwashers and hand drills.

• 340 individual designers, 62 of whom worked in collaboration

• 414 manufacturers and distributors, in more than 4 countries

• 100 retailers nationwide – not including direct sale items from designers

In addition to transcribing information from the exhibition materials, I compiled biographical files for 173 of the 340 featured designers using accessible, online, materials. The ‘Good Design’ Master Checklist includes the frequency each designer contributed to the exhibition series over the 5 year period, alluding to a relationship between the popularity of designers and the frequency of their selection for Good Design - supporting the impact that the exhibition series had on popular design in America at the time, and the assertion that mid-century Scandinavian design in America’s popularity was heavily influenced by EJK, jr..

Celebrating 70 Years of Good Design

In December of 2020, in collaboration with the Fallingwater Preservation and Collections Department, I gave a webinar in celebration of the 70th anniversary of the ‘Good Design’ series at MoMA and EJK, jr.’s role in modern design. The live recording of the webinar can viewed below: