Joe and Josephine are perfectly average. Joe is 69.1 inches tall with a shoulder span of 17.9 inches. Exactly 5.9 inches shorter, Josephine has an 8.8-inch waist and 2-inch-wide lips. You'll never meet Joe or Josephine. Physically they don't exist. Yet their imprint, once ubiquitous, still lingers in unexpected places. Conceived by the midcentury industrial designer Henry Dreyfuss – using statistical data from the military and fashion industry – their 50th percentile bodies have been the standard upon which the proportions of everything from building interiors to dinnerware have been based. You come into contact with Joe and Josephine when something doesn't fit. There is now another way to encounter the couple. A new exhibition at the Cooper Hewitt – enhanced by a book published by Princeton Architectural Press – provocatively addresses the roots and legacy of Joe and Josephine in architecture and design. Essay by Jonathon Keats....
