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Object Timeline

1971

  • Work on this object began.

1980

  • We acquired this object.

2012

2014

2024

  • You found it!

Sidewall, Chopped Herringbone

This is a sidewall. It is dated 1971 and we acquired it in 1980. Its medium is screen-printed on vinyl. It is a part of the Wallcoverings department.

Buchsbaum was an architect and interior designer who worked for several architectural offices in New York before establishing his own firm in 1967. He received a Bachelor of Science degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology, and his Bachelor of Architecture Degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1961. Buchsbaum became known for creating polished, high-tech interiors for loft apartments, and was a key figure in three significant, consecutive design phases: supergraphics, high-tech and postmodernism. This strong graphic pattern is a combination of his desire for polished, hi-tech interiors and his passion for large-scale graphics. The herringbone format, based on the classic herringbone design, is made contemporary by the use of primary colors, its large-scale, and the chopped or segmented execution of the design. The seemingly random placement of the yellow dots in select sections disrupts the regularity of the design, causing the eyes to meander in pursuit of the dots, which visually breaks up the strict geometry of the herringbone pattern.

It is credited Gift of Alan Buchsbaum.

  • Sidewall (France)
  • machine-printed, textured paper.
  • Gift of Harrison Cultra.
  • 1971-62-1-a/f

Our curators have highlighted 4 objects that are related to this one. Here are three of them, selected at random:

  • Tazza (France)
  • tin-glazed earthenware.
  • Gift of Eugene V. and Clare E. Thaw.
  • 2008-40-5

Its dimensions are

L x W (b): 135 x 75 cm (53 1/8 x 29 1/2 in.)

Cite this object as

Sidewall, Chopped Herringbone; USA; screen-printed on vinyl; L x W (b): 135 x 75 cm (53 1/8 x 29 1/2 in.); Gift of Alan Buchsbaum; 1980-66-1-b

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Making Design.

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If you would like to cite this object in a Wikipedia article please use the following template:

<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/68765613/ |title=Sidewall, Chopped Herringbone |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=16 April 2024 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>