Presenting design highlights from the last three years, the Design Triennial at New York's Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum reveals two divergent paths: one towards fantastical, digitally generated forms, the other towards consciously handcrafted objects. Dominating the field, the curvaceous, tumultuous shapes of computer-aided design are visible at every scale, from buildings to silverware. At the same time, the passionate DIY movement crafts beauty from ordinary materials, its forms and concepts no less sophisticated than its high-tech counterparts.

Architects employing digital technology are creating delicately sinuous structures. Included in the Triennial is Acconci Studio's proposal for a ribbon-like skate park, which winds and curves over a sloping site. Boston-based architect Preston Scott Cohen explores complex geometries to create his twisting structures, such as his addition to the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, while SHoP/Sharples Holden Pasquarelli builds anthropomorphically sensuous constructions, like its gently bulging Camera Obscura. Greg Lynn, one of the pioneers of computer-generated "blob" architecture, contributes silverware and furniture to the Triennial, presenting his signature mutations on a more intimate scale. Meanwhile, graphic designer Joshua Davis composes two-dimensional spaces with exploding blobs and tentacles.

In contrast, DIY designers reconfigure existing, mass-produced materials to create surprising new objects. Readymade and Make magazines provide endless design ideas, from phone-book coffee tables to homemade MP3 players, that promote environmental and anti-consumerist ethics. The Ladd brothers exhibit their handmade bags and jewelry in their elaborate Terre du Lac installation, referencing nature and their childhood memories. Taking a more industrial approach, Moorhead & Moorhead construct elaborate structures from simple materials; their Cargo Wall storage unit is woven from polypropylene webbing, commonly used for dog leashes.

By no means are these two paths completely separate — some designers combine futuristic forms with sensual craft. With melting formlessness as prevalent in fashion as it is in architecture, designers like Zero Maria Cornejo and Tom Scott translate twisting, deconstructed shapes into the soft tactility of a sweater or a knitted vest, and hairstylist Orlando Pita sculpts dramatic, gravity-defying creations for runway shows. In furniture design, Christopher Douglas' aerodynamic Knock-Down/Drag-Out Table is both collapsible and environmentally friendly. Finally, graphic designer Rick Valicenti and his Thirst collective intermix countless aesthetics in their installation of sassy, opinionated posters, digital collages, and embroidered slogans.

-BR