58" on center

HENRY DREYFUSS

Dreyfuss was an industrial designer whose designs defined the twentieth century. Some of his most iconic designs are below:

Bell Telephone Model 302, 1937. (image from cooperhewitt.org)

Honeywell T86-Round, 1956. (image from cooperhewitt.org)

Polaroid SX-70, 1972. (image from cooperhewitt.org)

Dreyfuss' influence perpetuates to this day because of his user-centered philosophy. He notes his experience in theater as a set designer forced him to be hyper aware of the actors on stage and the ease in which they must move through the spaces. Beginning in the 1950s, Dreyfuss began publishing his methods and principles, first with Designing for People (1955) followed by The Measure of Man (1960). The Measure of Man was a series of charts that mapped the ranges of motion and proportional relationships for the "average" human. Better products would be the result of understanding natural tendencies.

I have been visiting various art museums to survey the seating practices of each institution considering the location within each exhibition, size, materiality and accessibility as part of an investigation into "museum fatigue." In the least creepy way, I also began observing museum visitors and how they view art. I thought it would be interesting, but it wasn't. It made me think back to Dreyfuss' work and if visitors mostly resume the same pose while looking at something hung on a wall because it is a natural posture to fall into, or if it is a reaction to the conventional way of displaying art. 

Below are some of my initial investigations.