Libraries, museums and visual resources: Design Museum

10:00 – 17:00 Monday to Thursday
10:00 – 18:00 Friday to Sunday

Design Museum
224-238 Kensington High Street
London W8 6AG

The 4 tube stations closest to the Museum are:

• Kensington High Street
• Holland Park
• Earl's Court
• South Kensington

The museum was founded in 1989 by Sir Terence Conran, an English designer, restaurateur, retailer and writer. It originally opened its doors in a converted banana warehouse in Shad Thames. The architect of the first building was Stuart Mosscrop of Conran Roche, who had created the shopping centre at Milton Keynes a decade before. The interiors were designed by Paul Williams and Alan Stanton, also of Conran Roche. It was notable for its white walls, marble floors, generous balconies and glass-brick walls which let in lots of light. The museum was opened by Margaret Thatcher on 5 July 1989. 

In 2008, the museum, after looking for larger premises for a long time, selected the 1960s building in Kensington High Street, West London, as its new home. The Grade II listed building had stood vacant for over a decade. The new museum was designed by John Pawson, a British architectural designer, OMA and Allies and Morrison. The new museum opened to the public in November 2016. 

The missions of the museum are to :

• To build public awareness of design by connecting design with people’s lives and passions
• To reflect the designer’s role at the forefront of social, technological and environmental change
• To serve the design community. Design is a practice, a diverse discipline, infinitely rich in approaches and characters. It is a young discipline, whose role in the world is evolving. Our unique approach to working with designers is to invite them to ‘think in public’ with us

Enzo Mari

29 March - 8 September 2024

Not only one of the 20th century’s most significant designers, Mari was also an artist, teacher, theorist, and more. During his prolific career, he created countless enduring and timeless designs, filling the homes and streets of the Milanese and beyond. This unmissable retrospective which was produced and presented by Triennale Milano in 2020, will span Mari’s 60-year career and bring together hundreds of his projects, ranging from furniture, children’s books and games, product and graphic design, to more conceptual installation-based works.

Discount Code

MarangoniMari

Skateboard 
20 October 2023 – 2 June 2024

This Autumn the Design Museum will be opening the UK’s first major exhibition charting the design evolution of skateboards, from 1950s to present day and from homemade humble beginnings to today’s professional and technologically advanced models. 

Discount Code

IMSKATE