Museums are places in which humanity retains the knowledge accumulated during its existence. But the main thing is that this knowledge in the form of various objects is not hidden behind seven locks, but is put on public display, pleasing or surprising all generations. Of course, museums have existed for several centuries, and they all have a different orientation, however, museums dedicated to the history of design development appeared only at the end of the 20th century (exceptions in the form of the Victoria and Albert Museum, as well as the Designmuseum Danmark only confirm the rule). In the past few decades, this gap has been filled so much that we were able to compile a rating consisting of design museums, which every lover of all the beautiful must visit. But keep your nose upwind - in the near future the opening of even more institutions that open up the world of design to us is announced!
1
Design Museum - London, UK
Founded as an independent institution in 1989 by restaurateur and designer Terence Conran, the Design Museum in London is actually rooted in another institution represented in our ranking: The Victoria and Albert Museum. Eight years before the opening of the Design Museum, Conran founded the V&A Boilerhouse (the so-called boiler room) in the basement, where modern industrial design demonstrations took place. And only a few years later, Terence moved his gallery of modern design into a separate room, where previously there was a warehouse of bananas.
In this form, the museum lasted until 2016, until it moved to a new home in Kensington. The building, built in the 60s of the XX century, was renovated by renowned architect John Pawson and OMA. All types of modern design were collected there, from the fashion industry to furniture and graphics.
2
Vitra Design Museum - Weil am Rhein, Germany
The owner of the Swiss furniture company Vitra Rolf Felbaum opened the design museum of the same name in 1989. The businessman’s initial goal was to create a house to store a private collection, but over the years the number of exhibits and the museum’s area expanded so much that Rolf “sheltered” the retrospectives of famous designers and architects, including Frank Lloyd Wright, as well as Charles and Ray Imza. The Vitra Design Museum is part of the Vitra Campus. The whole complex, according to most-beauty.ru, can be fully attributed to the treasures of world architecture.
The museum building was designed by Frank Gehry, and the campus includes buildings built by real stars of architecture and design. Here you can admire the projects of Zaha Hadid, Tadao Ando, Jean Pruve, SANAA, Alvaro Siza, Herzog and de Meron, Nicholas Grimshaw and Buckminster Fuller. Inside the museum, art lovers will find many exhibits, among which the works of Carsten Heller, Cosier van Bruggen and Class Aldenburg will be especially delighted.
Please note that on our site most-beauty.ru you can find a list of the strangest and most unusual museums in the world.
3
Red Dot Design Museum - Singapore
One of the three museums of the Red Dot design company (the other two are located in Essen, Taiwan and Taiwan) is the largest design museum in Asia, located in the region, whose study of the history of design is on its way. In the near future, several design museums are planning to open in Asia, including the Fumihiko Maki Design Society in Shenzhen, China and Herzog & de Meuron’s M + in Hong Kong.
The Singapore Red Dot Design Museum is specialized. Inside, visitors can see examples of product design and communications, with each of the collections receiving a significant Red Dot Design Awards. In 2017, the museum changed its “place of residence”, moving to a building located in a picturesque area on the Marina Bay promenade. The owners and leaders of the museum have repeatedly stated that its successful existence will contribute to the emergence of talented designers and architects on the Asian continent.
4
Victoria and Albert Museum - London, UK
One of the oldest museums of design and arts and crafts was founded in 1852. Its first name was “The Museum of Products”, throughout its existence, it changed several names until it was renamed the Victoria and Albert Museum in honor of the royal family. Queen Victoria herself laid the first stone in the construction of the current museum building in 1899. Under the roof of the institution are many exhibits. There are objects of art and design, whose age exceeds 5,000 years. Here you can find textiles from Ancient Egypt, varnishing from Japan, furniture of the Imz brothers and even mantles from Alexander McQueen.
This museum is one of the most visited in the world; in 2016 alone, more than 3 million people visited its exhibitions. As part of the celebration of the 150th anniversary of its founding, the museum management announced the start of a new project to build a new building. The expansion cost $ 200 million, and its implementation was carried out by the famous British architect Amanda Leavit. The project also included the construction of a new entrance to the museum and the first public courtyard in the world, the paths of which are paved with china. The museum is open to all comers for free.
5
Smithsonian Museum of Design Cooper Hewitt - New York, USA
The Cooper Hewitt Design Museum is one of two Smithsonian museums located outside of Washington, DC. And he also proudly bears the title of the only American museum dedicated to historical and contemporary design. Although it is now in the so-called Museum Mile on the Upper East Side, the museum is rooted in central New York. In 1897, the Hewitt sisters, inspired by the best European institutions, founded it as the Museum of Art of Decoration, part of the Cooper Union.
The institution was going to close due to financial problems, which caused a public outcry and led to a merger with the Smithsonian Institution. The institution moved to its current building in 1976. It was a magnificent mansion of industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, bequeathed the house to the museum. It includes 64 rooms. Various design exhibitions are held here. In 2014, the building was overhauled at a cost of $ 81 million. The permanent exhibition includes more than 200,000 items, the history of which covers more than 30 centuries. The building also hosts temporary exhibitions dedicated to an event.
6
Bauhaus Archive - Berlin, Germany
Despite the fact that the Bauhaus school existed for only 14 years, from 1919 until the Nazis closed it in 1933. This is one of the most influential design schools of the 20th century. Its founder, Walter Gropius, was interested in the points of contact between design, architecture and art, wanting to maximize the skills of his students, allowing them to create objects of a wide range, from stained glass to weaving and printing.
The archive was founded in 1960, now it works as a museum in which all visitors can see the permanent collections or personal exhibitions of members of the Bauhaus school. Here are the masterpieces created by Vasily Kandinsky, Laszlo Mohoy-Nadia, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and many others. The museum also has a small souvenir shop where you can buy quite expensive, but extremely rare and valuable gifts.
7
Design Exchange - Toronto Canada
When the government of Canada in the 80s of the XX century began to push design art into the background (the federal agency Design Canada was closed, and the University of Toronto was going to close the school of architecture), designers across the country came together to establish a national center, which was successfully re-registered in the Exchange design in 1994.
This institution has a collection spanning the 60-year history of Canadian design. Given the attitude of the government, it is not surprising that this is the only design museum in Canada. In addition, the Design Exchange has established many national awards for beginners and experienced Canadian designers. The museum management pays great attention to education, interacting with society through a variety of platforms. Lectures and various children's events are held here.
By the way, on our site most-beauty.ru there is an interesting and informative article about the best fashion museums in the world.
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Design museum Danmark - Copenhagen, Denmark
Scandinavia has an impeccable reputation in the field of design, so it is not surprising that in one of the capitals of the peninsula, Danish Copenhagen, there is a beautiful design museum. It is dedicated to industrial design, crafts and furniture design. The Danish Design Museum was founded in 1890, the founders strive to inspire designers and consumers to create and search for high-quality products with a flawless appearance. In 1926, the museum moved to a new building, where it is currently located. Previously, the 1757 rococo-style building served as the Royal Hospital of Frederic, resembling a magnificent palace for augusts.
The museum has collected works by such famous Danish designers as Arne Jacobsen and Karl Klint, who played a key role in turning the hospital into a museum. And also there you can find exhibits collected from all over the world, and relating to different periods of history, which became the inspirers of designers from Denmark. Lovers of theory will find in the museum the largest library in Scandinavia dedicated to design art.