At its very heart, design is utile, intended to serve a function and interact with the world. Yet, most Chicago venues for presentation of design don’t treat it this way. At the Art Institute, design is displayed like art: look, but don’t touch. At the Chicago Architecture Foundation, design is perhaps too approachable: too touchy-feely. At Wright auction house, design is up for sale: you touch it, you buy it. The new Chicago Design Museum inside Block Thirty Seven seems to be getting things right in its first year. Between the exhibitions, talks, events, collaborations and a little shop, the museum is creating enough opportunities to engage with design on its own terms. Small details—like handsome custom seating and vitrines—along with occasional interactive displays remind visitors that design belongs in the hands of the people.
