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12 museums in which to fall in love with design

Text by
Marianna Guernieri
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salonemilano, berlin

Bauhaus-Archiv, Berlin - Ph. Karsten Hintz

From the Triennale Milano to the London Design Museum, via Het Nieuwe Instituut. A useful guide to always have at hand

In a world plagued by soul-less, and therefore bad, objects, coming into contact with design unveils a different way of understanding materiality. Discovering that every object, fabric or concept is imbued with the thought and experience of extraordinary people who managed to synthesize depth and poetry in their creative gesture can help us make more conscious choices, whether they are consumerist or purely aesthetic for our home or workspace. The care of the craftsmanship, the relationships with companies and artisans, and the long gestations of each product make us think of the designer as the artist of things, using a simplification that is now outdated (where does the designer finish and the artist starts?) but helps us understand the process until here. If you want to recharge your creative soul and enhance the world around you, I invite you to get a thrill out of Gio Ponti’s letters, Enzo Mari’s ashtrays, Studio Drift’s dandelion lights or the white nephrite jade wine cup carved with a capricorn shape for a Mughal emperor. Here’s where to go.

salonemilano, triennale milano

Triennale Milano - Ph. Gianluca Di Ioia

Triennale Design Museum 

The Triennale Design Museum was founded in 2007 inside the Triennale Milano, the creative beating heart of the Milanese city with a packed schedule of exhibitions, performances, screenings, lectures, and Raheem’s radio show. The building, located in the Palazzo dell’Arte in Parco Sempione, is an example of rationalist architecture completed by Giovanni Muzio in 1933, with a permanent collection that includes more than 1,600 iconic objects of Italian design. Current exhibitions include one dedicated to Elio Fiorucci (until March 16), “Ettore Sottsass. Architectures Landscapes Ruins” and “Forme Mobili” (until April 13, 2025). This year the Triennale will host the 24th International Exhibition, titled “Inequalities,” from May 13 to Nov. 9, 2025. 

Where: Viale Alemagna 6, 20121 Milan, Italy 

salonemilano, adi design museum

ADI Design Museum

ADI Design Museum 

Opened in 2021, the ADI Design Museum celebrates the excellence of Italian design through the Compasso d’Oro Collection, which brings together award-winning products since 1954. The building is located in a former industrial area near the Cimitero Monumentale. The permanent collection displays objects that have marked the history of Italian design with the exhibition “The Spoon and the City.” Current temporary exhibitions include “Obsessive-Inventional” curated by JoeVelluto and “Extreme Present” curated by Francesca Grassi and Domiziana Bani on the transformations of our living  

Where: Piazza Compasso d'Oro 1, 20154 Milan, Italy 

london design museum, salonemilano

London Design Museum - Ph. Hufton + Crow

London Design Museum 

Founded in 1989 by Sir Terence Conran, the London Design Museum moved in 2016 to the former Commonwealth Institute, renovated by OMA and John Pawson. The museum explores contemporary design in all its forms, ranging from architecture to fashion, with a permanent collection and temporary exhibitions examining the impact of design on society. Currently on display is “Future Observatory: Tomorrow’s Wardrobe” through August 2025.  

Where: 224-238 Kensington High St, London W8 6AG, United Kingdom 

salonemilano, Red Dot Design Museum Singapore

Red Dot Design Museum Singapore

Red Dot Design Museum Singapore 

This museum is the home of the Red Dot Award for Design Concept and features more than 500 award-winning design works. Designed by Australian firm Cox Architects and Singapore’s Architects 61, the building itself is an example of contemporary design, located along the picturesque Marina Bay. Currently, the museum hosts the “Winners’ Exhibition 2024/2025,” which provides an overview of emerging trends in design over the past year. 

Where: 11 Marina Boulevard, Singapore 018940 

salonemilano, Het Nieuwe Instituut

Het Nieuwe Instituut - Ph. Taco De Neef

Het Nieuwe Instituut 

Located in Rotterdam, Het Nieuwe Instituut is the national museum for architecture, design and digital culture in the Netherlands. The building was designed by Dutch architect Jo Coenen in 1993 and houses a collection that includes archives of Dutch architects and a wide range of design objects. It also counts the Sonneveld House, a functionalist house museum from the 1930s in Nieuwe Bouwen style. Current exhibitions include “Garden Futures: Designing with nature” on the history of modern gardens (through April 13, 2025) previously on display at Vitra, “Future Makers!” dedicated to children, and “Dutch, More or Less: Contemporary Architecture, Design and Digital Culture,” both of which can be visited through 2026. 

Where: Museumpark 25, 3015 CB Rotterdam, Netherlands 

salonemilano, MAK – Museo di Arti Applicate

MAK - Museum of Applied Arts - Ph. Hertha Hurnaus

MAK - Museum of Applied Arts 

Founded in 1863 in Vienna under Emperor Franz Joseph I as the Imperial and Royal Austrian Museum for Art and Industry, the MAK is one of the city’s most important museums dedicated to the applied arts, with an emphasis on design and architecture. With more than 900,000 objects, the collection ranges from contemporary design to traditional crafts with featured names such as Josef Hoffmann, Koloman Moser, Otto Wagner, Adolf Loos and Gustav Klimt. Current exhibitions include explorations of sustainable design and digital craftsmanship, the exhibition “Peche Pop. Tracing Dagobert Peche in the 21st Century” on Wiener Werkstätte enfant terrible Dagobert Peche (through May 11, 2025) and the exhibition “Blockchain:Unchained. New tools for democracy” until August 2025. 

Where: Stubenring 5, 1010 Vienna, Austria 

salonemilano, Bauhaus-Archiv

Bauhaus-Archiv, Berlin - Ph. Karsten Hintz

Bauhaus-Archiv 

Located in Berlin, the Bauhaus-Archiv documents the history of the Bauhaus (1919-1933), the pioneering institution in design, architecture and art. The building, designed by Walter Gropius, reflects its modernist principles while the collection includes works by masters such as Gropius, Klee and Kandinsky. Currently, the museum is undergoing renovation, with temporary exhibitions hosted in alternative venues and with the program “Bauhaus und vielfalt. An exercise in defending democracy,” a series of events on Bauhaus and diversity. 

Where: Klingelhöferstraße 14, 10785 Berlin, Germany 

salonemilano, Cooper Hewitt

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum 

Part of the Smithsonian Institution, the Cooper Hewitt is the only museum in the United States devoted exclusively to historic and contemporary design. Located in the Andrew Carnegie Mansion in New York City, the building is an example of neo-Georgian architecture, opened in 1897 and then renovated in 1995 and 2014. The collection includes more than 210,000 objects, from typography to furniture. On view through Aug. 10, 2025, is the triennial exhibition “Making home. Smithsonian Design Triennial,” featuring 25 specially commissioned site-specific installations exploring the role that design has in shaping physical and mental realities in homes around the United States, U.S. Territories, and Tribal Nations.  

Where: 2 East 91st Street, New York, NY 10128, USA 

salonemilano, Victoria and Albert Museum

Victoria and Albert Museum - Ph. David Iliff

Victoria and Albert Museum 

Founded in 1852, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London is one of the world’s best-known museums dedicated to the applied and decorative arts. The main building, located in South Kensington, is an example of Victorian architecture designed by Sir Aston Webb and houses a vast collection ranging from design, fashion, and ceramics, with antique and contemporary pieces. Currently, the museum is directed by Tristram Hunt. In addition to the historic building, new venues have opened in recent years including the V&A East in London designed by O'Donnell + Tuomey and the V&A Dundee in Scotland entirely dedicated to architecture and design, designed by Kengo Kuma & Associates. Current exhibitions include “The Great Mughals: Art, Architecture and Opulence,” through May 5, 2025.  

Where: Cromwell Road, London SW7 2RL, United Kingdom. 

salonemilano, Dongdaemun Design Plaza

Dongdaemun Design Plaza

Dongdaemun Design Plaza 

The building bears the signature of Zaha Hadid and opened to the public in 2014. The Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) is an example of neo-futuristic design characterized by the architect’s typical curved forms and fluid surfaces. The facility houses exhibition spaces, conference rooms, and a design museum. Collections include works of contemporary Korean and international design. Currently, the DDP is hosting an exhibition on sustainable design: open exhibitions include a retrospective of shows held in the past 10 years titled “DDP 10th Open Curating Archive,” where to understand the history of the institution, through March 31, 2025. 

Where: 281 Eulji-ro, Jung-gu, Seoul, South Korea. 

salonemilano, Design Museum Gent

Design Museum Gent 

Design Museum Gent 

Founded in 1903, the Design Museum Gent combines an 18th-century building in the historic center of the Flemish town with a contemporary wing opened in 1992 and a further spectacular extension in progress. The collection covers design from 1860 to the present, with a focus on Belgian design, under the leadership of director Katrien Laporte. The museum is currently closed for renovation and the opening of the new wing called DING, planned for 2026 by architects Carmody Groarke, TRANS architectuur/stedenbouw and RE-ST architectenvennootschap.  

Where: Jan Breydelstraat 5, 9000 Ghent, Belgium.

salonemilano, Vitra Design Museum

Vitra Design Museum

Vitra Design Museum 

Located in Weil am Rhein, Germany, the Vitra Design Museum is recognized as one of the world’s leading design museums. Dedicated to researching and presenting design past and present, the iconic first building was designed by Frank Gehry in 1989 and then followed by a series of architectural and artistic interventions within the Vitra Campus with names such as Herzog & de Meuron, Zaha Hadid, Tadao Ando, Carsten Höller and SANAA. The collection includes furniture, lighting and other design objects by designers such as Charles and Ray Eames, Alvar Aalto, Dieter Rams and Jean Prouvé. Currently, the museum is hosting the exhibition “Nike: Form Follows Motion” until May 18, 2025, and then from May 18, 2025, “Science Fiction Design: From Space Age to Metaverse.” 

Where: Charles-Eames-Str. 2, 79576 Weil am Rhein, Germany 

14 February 2025
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