Gates Foundation — Designing Motherhood Exhibition

An exhibition designed to explore the arc of human reproduction through the lens of art and design.

While being born is a universal human experience, the designs that shape it are not. Designing Motherhood invites you to consider why and how we have developed designs to facilitate reproductive health. 

Designing Motherhood brings together over 200 objects from around the world—from tiny IUDs to large-scale textile prints, photography, product design, maternity wear, and innovations in maternal and newborn health. Presented at the Gates Discovery Center, it’s the result of a joint collaboration between the Center’s team and the curators behind Designing Motherhood.

Awards
Communication Arts 2023 Design Annual, Award of Excellence

A long, winding “umbilical table” organizes the diverse content chronologically around the stages of pregnancy, providing structure and a sense of narrative flow. 

To give smaller artifacts greater visual presence—one of the main challenges of the project—and to create contrast with the interior wood and dark steel palette, we introduced multiple white surfaces on the table and surrounding alcoves. Responding to the Discovery Center’s gridded layout, we developed a modular system that shaped everything from the radial curves of the table (based on the floor tile module) to the square pedestals and caption layouts. This rigorous modular language helped organizing the display of the eclectic collection across the spaces.

Designing Motherhood examines not only the design of objects connected with reproduction, but invites the visitors to ponder the political, economic, and social implications of how we all relate to it.

We at Studio Matthews were asked to help create audience engagement—rather than just passive looking. We designed four different types of activity, including building a collective timeline about parental leave, as well as trying out what it’s like to ‘wear a baby.’

The long facade of the Gates Discovery Center was covered with enlarged reproductions of some of the artifacts on display, without explanation. Do you know what you are looking at?