About
At the Design Museum we believe that without better design, better use of scarce resources, and more innovation, the future won’t work. We see design as an integral part of every aspect of life: a way to understand the world around us, and to make it a better place to live.
For 24 years, since Terence Conran first established it,
the Design Museum has championed creative thinking and inspired problem solving, celebrating the talent of the world’s best designers and architects. The museum showed what Jonathan Ive could do before he went to Apple, it is the place that Puma chose to show the world Yves Behar’s ground breaking packaging for its shoes that cut carbon emissions by half and it gave Zaha Hadid her first solo show in Britain.
The museum has welcomed five million visitors, enthralled 400,000 school children, staged over 100 exhibitions, established a leading education programme and built an important collection of contemporary design.
The Design Museum’s pioneering programme of exhibitions, educational projects and its collection have made it the definitive voice for contemporary design. The museum encourages debate: everyone from Dieter Rams to Vivienne Westwood. We teach, we entertain, we collect. We publish on paper and on the net. We make a difference. But we could do much more. The success of our vision has created the opportunity for the building of a new Design Museum. A museum for the 21st century.
The best fit for our ambitions is to relocate to what was the former Commonwealth Institute on London’s Kensington High Street. This much loved modern landmark from the1960s, a grade 2* listed building, will be carefully restored by John Pawson.
It will offer three times more space, for more exhibitions, more learning programmes and a place for our permanent collection. More importantly, it will give the museum a greater voice in championing our future, because, more than ever, the future has to work better.
Here’s how you can help. The Design Museum is a charity that raises over 95 per cent of its running costs from admissions, trading, membership, donations and sponsors. The Heritage Lottery Fund and a number of generous individuals are supporting us with development funding to build a bigger Design Museum.
Everyone can make a contribution: share your hopes for the new Design Museum on the project website, become a fan on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, join as a Member or make a donation today.
