It is an international showcase of the highest level for the greatest artists from all over the world but also a creative centre to promote the innovation and genius of future generations of design talents.
The museum is located on one of London's main shopping streets, located in the west-central part of the city, on the border between Notting Hill and Hammersmith.
Here was located the building of the Commonwealth Institute, considered by many an architectural jewel above all for the unusual copper roof with a twisted concrete vault, the first to be built in Great Britain after the World War.
The project, which transformed the Commonwealth Institute into the new Design Museum in London, bears the signature of a world-renowned British designer and architect, known for his minimalist style.
To visitors, the museum presents itself as an architecture within architecture: a three-storey box-like structure in wood and glass whose geometries play with those of the concrete vault that overlooks it.
London Design Museum is not only the largest museum in the world entirely dedicated to design, but also the only one specialized in having a free permanent collection alongside paid temporary exhibitions.
It has got a large atrium on the ground floor, preceded by a gigantic bronze head (located outside its doors) which welcomes visitors directing them towards the different thematic areas of the museum.
Next to it we find the Design Museum Shop and a cafeteria.
Also on the ground floor is the largest gallery in the museum in which all the temporary exhibitions are set up.
From the bottom floor, the large main staircase gives access to all levels of the structure up to the spectacular hyperbolic roof under the dome.
There are more than a thousand items on display from the 20th and 21st centuries and they are not organized chronologically but according to the field they relate to: architecture, engineering, graphics, fashion, etc.
The permanent collection also includes innovative graphic models for the London Underground trains of the future as well as drawings of the new road signs for British motorways.
In the free-entry section there is also a six-meter wall filled with objects selected by the people (among the most popular in everyday use and at affordable prices) on an online platform, directly connected to the world of social media.
When it comes to technology and digitalization, the Design Museum is at the forefront with millions of followers on social media.
All the design and conceptual aspects of the museum are aimed at the future too since visitors will not find here the 'classics' and the most famous objects of design of the last century.
Everything here is innovation, experimentation and research of the new.
On the first floor there is a well-stocked library specialized in the field of design and architecture and, next to it, we find a restaurant, the Members' Lounge and a Design Studio.
On the same floor, one can find also design ateliers, creative workshops, seminar rooms, executive offices, the main reception, a meeting room and a film studio where they often show short films on design, of course.
Gallery Two is dedicated to temporary exhibitions on architecture, fashion, furniture, product and graphic design.
There are always temporary exhibits which change every two or three months hosting events varying from the field of fashion to architecture, from Information Technology to graphics.
London Design Museum
