Art & Design
23 May, 2022
Summer Holidays: Five Design Museums that you can visit in Europe
After two years of unusual summers due to the pandemic and its restrictions, this year traveling is finally somewhat easier and there are already many countries around the world that have reopened their doors to tourism. So we can start planning again the trips that we once had to pause.
You already know that at L‘Atelier Óptica we are big fans of art and design, and we have several museums in our bucket list. Pack your suitcase, put on your glasses and get ready to enjoy these art temples because we are sharing with you our design museums wish list.
Located in the Palazzo dell’Arte del Parco Sempione in Milan, the museum has been hosting, since 1933, exhibitions and events showcasing contemporary Italian design. In addition, it exhibits architecture, music, urban planning… always highlighting the relationship between art and industry.
Deyan Sudjic is a landmark in the world of design. He is the director of this museum which, since 2016, has been in a new location, the old Commonwealth Institute in Kensington Gardens. An unparalleled spot for a museum that exhibits works of industrial design, fashion, graphic design or architecture.
In 2018 it was chosen as the best museum in Europe. Its permanent collection alone, contains more than 1,000 objects from the 20th and 21st centuries, explained from the perspective of the designer, the visitor and the manufacturer.
Musée Des Arts Décoratifs in Paris
In the heart of Paris, in the Jardin des Tuileries, is the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, which has three spaces dedicated to Decorative Arts, Fashion and Advertising. If you visit it, you will be able to see more than 150,000 works from different disciplines such as graphic arts, jewellery, ceramics… There are also more than 80,000 works of textile art from the 17th century to the present day. Creations by Chanel, Dior or Yves Saint Laurent can be found in this museum.
Not to mention its huge catalog of billboards. An incredible sample of old and contemporary advertising posters from cinema, press, radio…
The Bauhaus Archive/Design Museum in Berlin
One cannot travel to Berlin and not visit the Bauhaus Archive/Design Museum. Designed by Walter Gropius, founder and director of the Bauhaus, the museum includes all the disciplines of this school: photography, graphic design, architecture, ceramics, metal…
To go through this museum is to know the history of the renowned school thanks to the works of many of its professors like Gropius himself, Marcell Breuer, Johannes Itten, Paul Klee, Lyonel Feininger and many more.
Design Museum Denmark in Copenhagen
Danish design is one of the most influential in the world. You can be a witness of it when visiting the Design Museum Danmark, a museum founded in 1890 and which, since 1926, is located in a former 18th-century hospital in Frederiksstaden, very close to the famous statue of the little mermaid. The decoration of the museum and its inventory is the result of Kaare Klint’s work, considered the father of contemporary Danish design.
In the museum you will see more than 100 designer chairs, as well as other furniture, lamps, graphic designs, photographs, vehicles… works by artists such as Poul Henningsen, Arne Jacobsen, Finn Juhl, Verner Panton and Erik Magnussen, among others.
