Europe’s Design Museums you can’t miss this summer

Europe hosts some of the world’s most important and influential design institutions. These museums don’t just preserve - they spark design thinking, weaving together historical collections and insights into the future of design. More than containers of objects, they are cultural spaces in evolution: active platforms that generate knowledge, dialogue, and social engagement.

As Beatrice Leanza writes in The New Design Museum: Co-Creating the Present, Prototyping the Future (Park Books, 2025), contemporary design operates on a global scale, surpassing traditional object-centred, anthropocentric views. In response, museums are redefining themselves - not only as repositories of memory but as critical engines of cultural knowledge and action. Visiting a design museum in Europe means immersing yourself in an experience where design is alive, inclusive, and interdisciplinary.
 

LONDON

The Victoria and Albert Museum, based in South Kensington since 1857, is one of the world’s largest and most important museums dedicated to decorative arts and design. Just a few weeks ago it was expanded with the new V&A East Storehouse, opened inside the former 2012 Olympic Broadcast Centre in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Stratford (East London). Designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R) with a three-ring layout, the V&A East Storehouse is a hybrid of depot and museum that transforms the exhibition experience. Here collections are not hidden but visible and accessible: open shelving, exposed crates, visitable workshops, and guided tours allow exploration of a vast heritage—from theatrical costumes and historic fashion to design icons and furnishings.

With its 10,000 m² of exhibition spaces, workshops, and interactive areas, the Design Museum London is a must for anyone wanting to dive into contemporary design. Among its summer exhibitions are “Splash! A Century of Swimming and Style”, a journey through fashion and aquatic culture celebrating iconic swimwear and beach trends, and “More Than Human”, an immersive exploration of the connections between humanity, the environment, and the future. Visiting the Design Museum is entering a world where design is narrative, culture, and action. Every detail—from the architecture by John Pawson to the rich programming—invites you to see the world with fresh eyes.



COPENAGHEN

In Copenhagen, the Designmuseum Danmark is the benchmark for discovering the best of Nordic design, with a collection ranging from 20th-century classics to contemporary experiments. Among the most celebrated pieces are works by Arne Jacobsen, Hans Wegner (master of sculptural chairs), and Børge Mogensen. Just a few steps away, the Danish Architecture Center (DAC) broadens the perspective on architecture, society, and sustainability with exhibitions, events, and workshops, becoming a dynamic and inspiring hub for enthusiasts and professionals.



MILANO 

La Triennale di Milano, founded in 1933, is a major cultural reference point for discovering Italian and international design. Within it, the Triennale Design Museum hosts the first permanent collection devoted exclusively to Italian design, showcasing masterpieces by Ettore Sottsass, Gio Ponti, and Achille Castiglioni. And there’s more: Triennale recently launched VOCE, a space dedicated to music and sound on the ground floor of the Palazzo dell’Arte, hosting live concerts, DJ sets, listening sessions, and sound installations.



WEIL AM RHEIN

The Vitra Design Museum in Weil am Rhein is an essential stop for fans of industrial design. It’s part of the renowned Vitra Campus, located just outside Basel, which features buildings designed by architecture stars such as Tadao Ando, Álvaro Siza, Herzog & de Meuron, and SANAA. Founded in 1989, the museum stands out for its stark white building, designed by Frank Gehry in a pure deconstructivist style—an expressive composition of ramps, cubes, and towers that makes the visit a unique visual experience. Inside, the museum holds an outstanding collection of design pieces by masters like Charles and Ray Eames, Verner Panton, and George Nelson, alongside temporary exhibitions that push the boundaries of contemporary design.



VIENNA

The MAK – Museum of Applied Arts, founded in 1863 and located in the heart of Vienna on the famous Ringstraße, is a European landmark for applied design, decorative arts, and architecture. Housed in an elegant neo-Renaissance building, the museum preserves a vast collection that covers historical pieces and decorative items from the Baroque period up to the most innovative designs of today. At the heart of the experience is the MAK Design Lab, an interactive space where design history meets daily life, offering a thematic journey through cooking, transport, communication, and fashion. Among its collections, the Helmut Lang Archive stands out, dedicated to one of Austria’s most influential designers. With a rich schedule of temporary exhibitions and educational activities, the MAK is an unmissable destination for those seeking to explore the roots and evolutions of European design.



PARIS

While the Centre Pompidou is set to close for major renovation works starting in September 2025, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs (MAD) remains Paris’s essential destination for design. Located within the architectural complex of the Louvre and active since 1905, the MAD preserves an extraordinary collection covering multiple eras and disciplines: from applied arts to industrial design, graphic art to fashion. The museum reflects France’s material culture history while also looking forward through bold exhibitions and internationally minded installations.
A highlight: its collection of advertising posters—among the largest in Europe—charts the evolution of visual language across pop culture, avant-garde, and everyday life: an iconographic journey at the heart of collective imagination.



BARCELLONA

The Museu del Disseny de Barcelona, opened in 2014, is housed in a sleek modern building in the Glòries district, a zone undergoing major urban regeneration. The museum emerged from the merger of four previous institutions dedicated to textiles, decorative arts, ceramics, and furnishings, and today stands as one of Europe’s most comprehensive design centers. Its collection includes over 70,000 pieces, spanning industrial and fashion design, graphics, to everyday objects—featuring iconic works by Catalan designers such as Gaudí and figures from the Modernist movement, extending to contemporary creations. Among its highlights, the museum holds an extensive selection of design furnishings and one of Europe’s most significant historic poster collections.



ROTTERDAM

The Nieuwe Instituut, together with the Sonneveld House, forms the Netherlands’ national museum for architecture, design, and digital culture. Founded in 1933, the Institute stands out for its research and preservation programs, focusing on pressing societal challenges such as the housing crisis, climate emergency, and the rise of artificial intelligence.
A highlight: the Sonneveld House, a masterpiece of Dutch modernist architecture from the 1930s, open to the public as a house museum and offering an immersive experience in the period’s furnishings and lifestyle.