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The second Cooper-Hewitt National Design Triennial has a decidedly different feel than the first. Compared to works in the inaugural exhibition, which were more "blobular" and sleek, those in the museum's current roundup of recent American design have a funky, homemade quality. Many of the works reuse design motifs or materials from earlier periods, giving the show an overall nostalgic quality, but in a decidedly fresh manner. Titled "Inside Design Now," the survey encompasses everything from home interiors to an artificial heart. The focus remains on experimental projects--whether imaginative recycling or hypothetic innovation--that are advancing design concepts, technology and research without forgetting esthetic appeal.

Overall, the show seems a bit subdued this time and goes more behind the scenes than its predecessor [see A.i.A., July '00], perhaps making it more appealing to design professionals and aficionados than to a product-crazed consumerist public. Considering that the show was planned amid a stalled economy and in the aftermath of Sept. 11, the understated tone seems appropriate for the country's current mood. Some 80 designers or firms are represented in more than 300 examples selected by staff curators Ellen Lupton (who also designed the catalogue) and Donald Albrecht, along with independent consultant Susan Yelavich, and Mitchell Owens, interior design director at Elle Decor.

Noticeably improved this time around, the installation design is less combative with the museum's Beaux-Arts interior than it was in the first show, and less distracting as a result. Instead of trying to hide or overcome the museum's architecture, exhibition designers Sandra Wheeler and Alfred Zollinger of Matter Practice opted to display many of the works straightforwardly in the ornate spaces. Heightening the disjunction are Paula Scher's linoleum floor mats in the entry hall and elevator and on the second-floor landing, as well as text painted on the elevator's doors and interior, that look like giant chalkboards with handwritten directions mapping out the exhibition and the world beyond. Yet video pieces--always problematic even in larger spaces--are not shown at their best, many of them grouped in one upstairs gallery. To tame the potential cacophony, some of the videos are playing without sound--presumably because the focus is on the visual--but this only cheats the visual experience in cases where sound is surely integral to the overall impact.

Though a fair number of established names are included in the show--Peter Eisenman, Gaetano Pesce, Ted Muehling and Asymptote among them--some of the most interesting selections are by less familiar designers or firms. Demonstrating that design doesn't happen in a cultural vacuum, some projects reveal a social conscience. Wave Garden is an ambitious proposal by Yusuke Obuchi that involves a huge floating artificial landscape that would act as a renewable power plant off the coast of California. During the week, floating tiles would generate energy through piezoelectricity, a 19th-century technology that is used to power quartz watches. The level of consumption during the week would determine the site's configuration on the weekend. If consumption is low, the floating tiles would rise and create a stable recreational landscape for residents. If consumption is high, it would remain an inaccessible power plant and a reminder of wasteful habits. Another socially minded project is paraSITE by artist Michael Rakowitz. The artist worked with the homeless to develop portable shelters made from white garbage bags. The $5 shelters are inflated and heated by attaching a long tube to the heating ducts or steam vents of buildings. Based in Raleigh, N.C., Bryan Bell's nonprofit company, Design Corps, hires recent architecture graduates under the auspices of AmeriCorps, a national service organization that builds affordable housing, among other things; the team is included for its tasteful mobile homes for migratory workers.

Another maker of architecture-on-a-budget is Dennis Wedlick, who uses prefab, standard-issue materials in designs that play on traditional domestic architecture. Prospect New Town is a housing development in Longmont, Colo., created by developer Kiki Wallace and architect Mark Sofield. The novel subdivision features Queen Anne, Tudor and Craftsman bungalows along with colorful modernist examples inspired by Bauhaus and local farming and mining structures. Residents have addresses on streets with such names as Incorrigible Circle and Half Measures Drive.

Moving to home interiors, David and Sandy Wasco are included for their work on the 2001 film The Royal Tenenbaums, directed by Wes Anderson, highlights of which are shown on a video monitor. The couple restored a Harlem brownstone that served as the home of the dysfunctional family, designing the characters' rooms to be unmistakable manifestations of their offbeat personalities. Similarly quirky are real-life interiors by Diamond + Baratta, whose cartoonish schemes utilize and exaggerate historical motifs and traditional home decor, such as 60-foot long hooked rugs. Interior designer and Nest magazine founder Joseph Holtzman has created a wildly patterned and upholstered room in the museum in which visitors can relax and peruse back issues of his design journal, which is both an enticing object and an informative resource.

Among the works with the most apparent links to the past are a pair of molded fiberglass armchairs, made with vintage floral fabric, that glow from within, and a '50s-style dress converted into a hanging light fixture, both by Critz Campbell. In a throwback to 1930s millinery, Kelly Christy stages miniature tableaux, such as a skating rink or birds' nests, atop fanciful hats. Even the New York City MetroCard vending machines by Antenna Design are reminiscent of days gone by with their grade-school color schemes and blocky simplicity. Conversely, the firm's sleekly sterile new subway cars for New York City are more forward-looking and commuter friendly. Displayed here in photographs, it's hard to appreciate their clear signage and mercifully intelligible sound systems.

Some participants look no further than their backyards, or perhaps their attics, for inspiration. The collaborative House Industries has created a series of typefaces inspired by military lettering and local signage in Delaware, where it is based; another font the group designed is Neutraface, which borrows from letters used by architect Richard Neutra in the 1940s and '50s. Paul Elliman's Bits typeface is based on fragments of detritus, such as door hinges or bent paper clips, that lend themselves well to the alphabet. Charles S. Anderson's colorful stock images look like 1950s illustrations; one series is inspired by paint-by-number kits. Graphic designer Laurie DeMartino has a number of projects on view, including boxes for Marshall Field's Frango chocolates. With their crisp design and rich color palette, the boxes themselves seem edible.

Examples of fashion and textile design are more numerous this go-round. Isaac Mizrahi is included for his fantastical costume designs that enhance the surreal quality of dance performances by Mark Morris and the American Ballet Theatre. Dresses by Isabel Toledo are intended to make the wearer "feel sexy" by surrounding the body with pockets of air that, unfortunately, are formed with unflattering bunches of fabric that create a misshapen silhouette. Garments by the duo Loyandford are patched togetber from scraps of seemingly disparate materials, such as gray flannel and chiffon, with varying degrees of success or mess. One wishes for photos of models wearing the enigmatic designs of As Four that are here displayed as sparkly abstract wall decorations. A redesign of the classic Birkenstock shoe by Fuseproject has made the hippie icon nearly unrecognizable and more palatable for a new generation.

In a related fashion vein, the Demeter Fragrance Library, developed by Christopher Brosius and Christopher Gable, consists of such notes as Dirt, Smoke, Snow, and Gin and Tonic, packaged in minimalistically designed clear bottles. David Hoey is included for his outlandish installations in the windows of Bergdorf Goodman, particularly one using a grid of toast as a backdrop. Bureau Betak's spectacular runway shows for such fashion houses as Christian Dior, Hussein Chalayan, Donna Karan and Armani resemble extravagant Broadway productions. The firm undermines its own contribution by presenting the videos on three small monitors encased in ice-cube-like sculptures within a darkly scrimmed space, with only one set of headphones provided.