Ice cream scoops. Lamps. Plastic lounge chairs. All of these everyday objects have been appropriated into the world of modern design, reimagined to create a pleasing visual and tactile experience. But what is it that drives high-design to touchable texture? What is it that makes a Volkswagen Bug dome-shaped? These kinds of questions intrigued University of Pennsylvania art history professor George H. Marcus and The Design Center at Philadelphia University’s director Hilary Jay. The pair decided to travel worldwide to research a book and a co-curated exhibit, both titled “What Is Design Today?”

"Design is all around -- everything humans make," says Marcus. The book (published by Abrams) embraces a utilitarian approach to design that was given the stamp of approval by the Museum of Modern Art back in the '50s. MOMA believed design should fulfill the practical needs of modern life, express the spirit of our times, benefit contemporary advances in the arts and sciences with new materials and techniques, and purely express the purpose of an object. Marcus has removed the dogmatic "shoulds" from the list, and concentrates on showing how crucial each spiral and cone is to modern design, and not just in its functionality -- for Marcus, the hows and whys of each element arriving in a design help define the finished product.

For Jay, the question became how to take all that Marcus had come up with and make it fit into The Design Center, a house once owned by Goldie Paley (mother of CBS founder William), and its accompanying chapel.

Philly local Jay's eclectic background brought her naturally, if in a roundabout way, toward organizing this exhibit. She has been a jewelry designer and was co-founder of Maximal Art (whose costume jewelry and home furnishings are part of the permanent collection at London's Victoria and Albert Museum). She's been a full-time reporter/critic/journalist for Philadelphia magazine, Metropolitan Home and The Inquirer. She did product development at Tyco toys, party decoration for big events, editorial illustration, marketing, PR, floral design, art consulting and interior design. "I packed a lot into those years," says Jay of the period between 1985 and 2000, the year she happened into a conversation with the then 20th-Century curator for the Guggenheim. "We got to talking about creating a design alliance -- a place that would hold exhibitions, create symposiums and publications, educate kids all about Design with a capital D. This is readily found in fine arts, but not in design."

The Design Center, a part of Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science, also had the goal of making Philadelphia a design port and was a perfect fit for Jay. Since starting as director in October 2000, Jay has become the center's curator, publicist, fundraiser, strategist and zealot -- the patron saint of the big D.

"Design is too often associated with shopping and fashion," says Jay. "That's part of the story, but only a bit. I want to get general thinking beyond the mall and the fashion magazines." Ironically, the Design Center's first famous exhibit was last year's "Oddities," based on Goldie Paley's dizzying designer clothing collection and curated by Todd Oldham. "That was a tribute to the university, which began in the late 1800s, back when this city was the national center for fashion textile production," says Jay. "It was also a way to let the world know the Design Center had such a textile and fashion archive, a true secret treasure chest."

For the current show, Jay edited Marcus' book, and helped set a tone for the exhibition. "I like partnerships, especially with designers," Jay says. "And I like a good story --if it doesn't have some theory, a little sex, a little controversy, punch, then I'll probably move on."

The "What is Design Today?" exhibit is by turns cluttered and sparse, full of shaped objects -- mod Michael Graves designs for Target, traditional styles from Ethan Allen, Nike iD shoes, Toyota's Hybrid car. The installation of the show is essential to Jay and Marcus: "The way the elements of design, shape, color, texture, material and pattern are assembled is what defines style," says Marcus.

Jay also sees an important educational component to the show. "I am completely obsessed about the idea of teaching people why and how design is so vital to their lives," says Jay. Her next goal is to create an accompanying curriculum for the public school system. She has already developed -- with staff from the university -- a lesson plan in which students fashion everything from ice cream scoops to lighting systems, in order to understand the ins and outs of design. "I have a 10-year-old in public school," she says. "I think it's crucial that this message [does] not stand behind institutional walls."

“What Is Design Today?” Oct. 11-March 2, The Design Center at Philadelphia University, The Goldie Paley House, Ravenhill Chapel, 4200 Henry Ave., 215-951-2860.