Already a well-established destination for London travelers looking to enjoy a mix of culture, science and real-world applications, the London Design Museum will reopen next month with an entirely new complex.
The Design Museum’s new home will open to the public on Kensington High Street on November 24. The museum’s new layout will fill a classic listed landmark building from the 1960s after an £83 million transformation.
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The museum exists to showcase the world’s most famous and influential design elements and products from multiple markets and disciplines. The space also looks to nurture new generations of designers while supporting emerging design talent.
For the first time in the museum’s history (whether at its former location or in Kensington), it will offer a permanent display of its collection free to the public. A wall at the gallery’s entrance will feature some of the world’s most popular affordable consumer goods, nominated by the public.
The Design Museum offers a strong display of famous motor vehicle items, recognizing the massive influence cars, motorcycles and everything that goes with them had upon the modern world. Automotive highlights include The Vespa Clubman Scooter designed by Corradino d’Ascanio and made by Piaggio along with Jock Kinneir and Margaret Calvert’s iconic British road signs.
The rest of the full collection offers the Ettore Sottsass and Perry King’s Valentine Typewriter for Olivetti, the Sony TPS L2 Walkman designed by Nobutoshi Kihara, the Obama ‘Progress’ poster by Shepard Fairey the GRiD Compass (the first laptop computer by Bill Moggridge), Mikhail Kalashnikov’s AK47 assault rifle and Ossie Clarke and Celia Birtwell’s Paper Dress.
