Although museums have been around for centuries, few were dedicated entirely to design, such as the Victoria & Albert Museum from 1852 and the Design Museum of Denmark from 1890. However, in recent decades, a large number of institutions have opened their doors around the world, welcoming designers and creating platforms for the sector to reach new horizons. For fans of the theme, discover the ten best design museums in the world.

1. London Design Museum, England

Founded as an independent institution in 1989 by designer and restorer Terence Conran, the London Design Museum has established itself as the premier museum of design, architecture and fashion of the 20th and 21st centuries. In an avant-garde building located in London, it is the first institution in the world dedicated exclusively to objects designed and produced serial.

2. Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, USA

Located in New York, the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum is the first American museum devoted to the history of design and the only one in the country whose collection is exclusively devoted to these objects. This establishment has an impressive permanent collection of more than 200,000 works covering more than 30 centuries of history.

3. Vitra Design Museum, Germany

Designed by Rolf Fehlbaum, the Vitra Design Museum opened in 1989, originally intended to house the private collection of its founder. Over time, this space has grown to host retrospectives of leading architects and designers such as Frank Lloyd Wright, Charles and Ray Eames. The spectacular museum building was designed by Frank Gehry and is located in the German town of Weil am Rhein, near Basel.

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4. Red Dot Design Museum, Singapore

It is one of three museums in the design organization Red Dot and Asia’s largest design museum, thriving in a region where the scene is just beginning to flourish. O Red Dot Design Museum of Singapore focuses on product design and communication, and each of the more than 1,000 pieces in its collection has already received the coveted Red Dot Award.

5. Mexican Design Museum, Mexico

O Mexican Design Museum (Mumedi) was created in early 2002, with the aim of promoting graphic and industrial design in the country and generating greater interest in the rest of the world for Mexican designers, historical and contemporary. The main objective of the institution is to support and promote the work of national and international designers.

6. Victoria & Albert Museum, England

Created in 1852 under the name of the Musée des Manufactures, the Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A) was renamed in honor of Queen Victoria in 1899. This museum showcases over 5,000 years of art and design from around the world, ancient Egyptian fabrics, Eames furniture and even dresses Alexander McQueen. It is one of the most visited design institutions in the world thanks to the variety of its pieces and the great history it houses.

7. Design Museum Denmark, Denmark

Located in the design capital of Copenhagen, this is an amazing museum. O Danish Design Museum promotes Danish and international design and craftsmanship and was founded in 1890 with the aim of inspiring the pursuit of better quality products. It currently houses Scandinavia’s largest library dedicated to the sector.

8. Design Exchange, Canada

O Design exchange is a non-profit Canadian cultural organization whose objective is to promote design, creativity and innovation. The institution has a six-decade collection of Canadian works and administers many of the country’s design awards. Moreover, it stands out because it places a strong emphasis on educating the community on this topic.

9. Milan Triennial, Italy

Since 1923, the Milan Triennial is an international institution that organizes exhibitions and conferences on art, design, architecture, fashion and cinema. This museum is located in Parco Sempione in Milan, Lombardy, northern Italy and is one of the finest establishments in the region.

10. Bauhaus Archive

The Bauhaus was one of the most influential design schools of the 20th century, which is why this special archive was founded in 1960, which functions as a museum housing exhibits from its permanent collection and individual exhibitions by members of the Bauhaus. ‘school. You can see a wide variety of works produced by the elders and kept by the archives.

*Article originally published in AD magazine
Translation by Ana Beatriz Hoffert