European Design Museums You Must Visit

Europe has a wide variety of beautiful design museums. I have had the opportunity to visit some, which I highly recommend visiting if you have the chance!

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Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Everyone may learn about, and take in, modern and contemporary visual art and design at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. The Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam wants to use art to improve people's lives. Their collection, exhibitions, publications, research, and educational initiatives present fascinating and original perspectives on the contemporary world. They emphasize issues that have an impact on both society and the lives of individual people. In an exciting program, the Stedelijk Museum delves into complicated issues of the past, present, and future as defined by artists.

My personal favorite at the Stedelijk Museum is, of course, the Alvar Aalto chair of which we have two in our collection.

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Kunstgewerbemuseum in Berlin, Germany

The Kunstgewerbemuseum holds world-famous works of art such as spectacular reliquaries made of gold and priceless gemstones, gorgeous glass and porcelain vases, exquisitely embroidered linens, ornate inlaid furniture, and vintage examples of modern industrial design. They have two locations: the Kulturforum in Potsdamer Platz and the Schloss Köpenick on an island in the river Dahme. If you want to see masterpieces in interior design from the 16th to the 18th centuries, you need to visit the Schloss Köpenick location.

What I personally loved most in this museum was the extensive collection of chairs, as can be seen on the right photo below.

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ADI Design Museum in Milan, Italy

The ADI Design Museum is one of Europe's largest design museums with no less than five thousand square meters of exhibition space. The historic site from the 1930s, originally utilized as a depot for horse-drawn trams and later as an energy distribution station, was reclaimed and renovated, resulting in the remarkable state of the building hosting the ADI Compasso d'Oro Design Museum.

The goal of the ADI Design Museum to chronicle the history of Italian design is perfectly accomplished through the (permanent) exhibition "The spoon and the city” - one of my personal favorites. The exhibition gives a closer look at 28 designs that won Compasso d'Oro Awards. These designs, which range from furniture to children's games, clothing to industrial machines, and various experiments in art and craftsmanship to vehicles, were chosen as being representative of the various facets and souls of Italian design.

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Sources:

Het Stedelijke Museum Amsterdam: Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam

Kunstgewerbemuseum: Kunstgewerbemuseum - Home (smb.museum) 

ADI Design museum: Homepage - ADI Design Museum‍

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