NYCxDesign 2026 Show Revisits Joe D’Urso and Ward Bennett
MillerKnoll presents High-Touch, a design history exhibition that reexamines minimalist interiors through the lived, hands-on practices of Joe D’Urso and Ward Bennett, two figures central to New York City’s design legacy. Timed with the reissue of Phaidon’s Ward Bennett monograph this spring, the exhibition arrives amid renewed attention to what this work required and why it still matters. The show opens at MillerKnoll’s New York gallery at 251 Park Avenue South on Friday, May 15, 2026, and runs through October 2, 2026.
Curated by Luke Baker, High-Touch draws from the MillerKnoll Archives and private collections to bring together residential interiors, furniture, and objects by both Joe D’Urso and Ward Bennett. The exhibition places their work in dialogue through Bennett’s long-standing design partnership with Geiger and D’Urso’s work for Knoll, as well as through their intertwined professional and personal relationship. Together, their work reflects a shared late-20th-century interpretation of total design: a holistic approach to modern living rooted in the idea of designing complete environments rather than isolated elements.
Drawing on earlier movements including Art Nouveau, the Vienna Secession, and the Arts and Crafts tradition, both designers applied this mindset across residential projects. I think Ward learned from my more architectural way of looking at things, and he taught me to try to design everythingโthat no detail was too small, said Joe D’Urso. That’s something that really stuck with me my entire career, and I think the same is true for him, too. Spanning five decades, High-Touch reveals the craft behind the restraint of New York’s minimalist interiors.
The exhibition brings Bennett and D’Urso into focus through objects and materials that reveal how minimalism was made. Featured works include rare Ward Bennett pieces such as a wicker 1060โC Sled Chair, original Joe D’Urso sketches, and an unseen prototype dining chair for Knoll. These works are presented in an exhibition conceived by industrial designer Jonah Takagi, with graphic design by Various Projects. Archival photographs and production prints from High-Tech: The Industrial Style and Source Book for the Home contextualize the pieces and ground modernism in everyday life.
The design influence of Bennett and D’Urso is felt around the world, but New York is a particularly relevant place to bring this exhibition to life, given their overlapping personal circles, said Kelsey Keith, Creative Director, MillerKnoll. The intention of this exhibition is to deepen the collective understanding of them as designers, working through and rebelling against prevailing design philosophy to inform a new way of creating spaces and objects within those spaces. High-Touch builds on MillerKnoll’s growing exhibition program, deepening the company’s commitment to providing a platform for the wider community to engage in conversation with design history.
Company Background. MillerKnoll is a global collective of design brands built on the foundation of two icons of modernism: Herman Miller and Knoll. The portfolio also includes furniture and accessories for commercial and residential spaces from Colebrook Bosson Saunders, DWR, Edelman, Geiger, HAY, HOLLY HUNT, Knoll Textiles, Maharam, Muuto, NaughtOne, and Spinneybeck | FilzFelt. Guided by a shared purposeโdesign for the good of humankindโMillerKnoll generated net sales of 3.7 billion dollars in fiscal year 2025. Knoll brings order and beauty to workplace, hospitality, and residential environments, while Geiger creates solutions for workplace, residential, and hospitality environments with an uncompromising attention to detail. Tickets for High-Touch are available online.
Image Courtesy: MillerKnoll
