Nice walk by the river until you get there Once in, it's not like it was before: everything's so neat and futuristic, it makes you sick. I even got freaked out by their almost telepathic hand-dryer! Show-wise, nothing exciting: just went there because King Matthew Williamson decided to show his ten-year retrospective there. Nice one, but not being an architecture fan (let alone erudite), I got rather anesthetised by Zaha Hadid's visionary designs I can't tell you much about their prices, as I got in for free (the joys of PR!) and would certainly not have paid for this. read more

What better way to spend a very wet Bank Holiday Monday than to indulge in a bit of culture. The Design Museum has been on my to do hit list for quite a while so this was prime opportunity to tick it off. As the name implies the museum showcases modern design and its exhibitions change on a regular basis. The museum explains how design has impacted on our lives today by taking us from the early roots of design to what we see in our lives today. I love seeing these kinds of exhibitions but entry into the museum was sooo overpriced at £7! It took us about half an hour, or maybe 45 minutes to be generous, to go through the exhibition AND the museum shop. I'm not sure how the museum can justify the price. Admittedly its not government funded and therefore operates as a charity but it still seems like a very steep charge. read more

I always try to visit here to pay homage to the best view of London from their cafe. The museum is wonderful, full of the history of contemporary design- Eames splints, Hoovers, Jacobsen chairs. Its a very peaceful and well-arranged exhibit. When I'm done walking around, I like to have a drink or lunch at the cafe at the top floor, and take in the beautiful view of London. IMHO, the key to a good museum is to curate well so that the highlights stand out against a relevant backdrop. The viewer is not overburdened, overstimulated or tired by an endless sea of stuff. This museum brings out the highlights of our design culture with spectacular examples set in context against contemporary pieces. Nicely done. read more

Every now and again, the Design Museum holds a series of late evenings showcasing different areas of the design world. This time it was celebrate 125 years of bottle design by Coca-Cola as well as the finalist of the World Design Awards. This was my first experience of the museum and was surprised to see how small it seemed from the outside. As I walked in there were quite a few people drawing and designing their own version of a Coke bottle to be hung on the wall for the evening, whilst others were talking their complimentary drink outside to look at the beautiful view of Tower Bridge. Upstairs I wandered around the World of Design exhibition which had some wonderful exhibits including Major Boris Johnson's famous city bike. This is a really fun and unique place to visit and to see a glimpse into the designs of the future and if you are like me, can give you some wonderful ideas on how to update your interior design. http://www.itsnosmallthing.weebly.com read more

Fortunately situated near Tower Bridge, the Design Museum is a great place to pop into while on a Sunday stroll along the bank. Well, when I say 'pop in', there is a cover charge of about £8, I think. The periodically changing exhibitions are situated over two floors. At the moment, there is a fantastic showcase of Vogue photographer's Tim Walkers dream-like creations. As well as his photographs, exhibited are various props and backgrounds from famous shoots and his idea notebooks and doodles. Absolutely beautiful and mad. Also, there is a display of various odd packaging and products from all over the world. Quite fun and amusing. There is an interesting schedule of design workshops for kids - which is a lot of fun if you're 10. Finally, worth checking out is the range of design books and bits and pieces in the museum shop. read more

Ok. Some things you should be aware of when thinking of visiting this place. Firstly, the atrium, shop, cafe and private space takes up 86% of the available space. The actual free exhibition space is an a small cramped area in the top far left corner of the building's roof. In truth, we didn't pay for the special exhibitions as the main one was so unimpressive. Secondly, the interactive exhibits are extraordinarily banal and superficial. And largely not working. For example, "What sort of cup would a child use as they stop using a bottle?" Answer: *****SPOILER ALERT**** it's a sippy cup. The actual interactive bit was broken. The museum has been open only a few weeks so this was a great example of poor design. My daughter is ten and loves things to do with 3D printers which, you have to say, are pretty amazing. They have one there she has is one of the biggest in the U.K. Guess what it was printing. A small wicker vase about 8" tall. They'd done a few of them and had them sitting on a shelf. Looked like the sort of thing you'd get a bi-rite for a quid to keep your loose change in. What phenomenally low ambition. I've seen better demos in stores where they are selling machines costing a few hundreds of pounds. All in all, very underwhelming. I suppose the worst thing is how poor DESIGNED the place is. My guess? A big committee, a lot of egos, too big a grant from the arts council. One other thing. The staff all have to wear a weird, humiliating denim smock-apron-overalls thing like they are peasant extras from a low budget Game of Thrones rip off. Either that, or they're all following some cult. (I spell-checked that last sentence.) You'll see better design walking through IKEA. read more

The museum itself is pretty average looking and not a building that is an exhibit itself compared to the Natural History Museum and the V&A. I came to see the Cartier in Motion exhibition as I am a keen follower of Cartier's designs and I find it fascinating learning about the history about the history of watch and jewellery making. The exhibition has been running for about a month and will end on 28th July 2017 and it takes just over an hour to go through it. It shows the different designs of Cartier's watches and how the Santos watch came about along with history about Santos-Dumas and Gustave Eiffel and their influences. Some beautiful pieces are on display and looking at the craftsmanship of these pieces that were created in the early 20th century is amazing! To think how they managed to create a small watch into cufflinks or tiny pens and notebooks at that time is just fascinating and you respect how much work has gone into these pieces. read more

Design Museum - Cartier in Motion exhibition - Museums Near Me - London, XGL

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I visited only the free exhibits when I came and was disappointed that most of the exhibition space was devoted to exhibits that had admit fees. That said, I thought it was interesting that the Design Museum Shop is prominently placed before you even get to the Museum itself. In the Museum, there's another large shop, lots of open space, and the free exhibit is up the stairs towards the back. The current exhibit about modern design seemed to be about design being about problem solving to design now being about selling us stuff. Did I mention there are TWO shops here? Hoping more meaningful shows will exhibit... read more

London's Design Museum is cool but small compared to the massive British Museum, National Gallery, Science Museum, Natural History Museum, or Victoria and Albert Museum. And unlike these gargantuans, the Design Museum is not free. Worthwhile for people interested in graphic design or product design (which I am so yay!). The top floor was a temporary exhibit dedicated to the work of Kenneth Grange, one of the five founders of the influential design firm Pentagram. Grange designed the Kodak Instamatic Camera and the new look of London's black cabs. Very cool exhibit. Today was beautiful and sunny and walking along the Thames to the museum was very London-y. Loved it! As with the other museums, check their website to see what's on before deciding to visit. read more

Décor: Concrete structure with glass encasing the hideous greyscale. It actually works, giving life to the forgotten saturation of concrete use in earlier decades. Excellent use of geometrics pull the user through from the front gate, under their R&D building and into the front garden of the building, a water feature is etched into the groundwork while benches and tree's enclose the space from the outside public footpath. Inside, we enter a vast space with an unusual curvature in the ceiling, not centred it wraps two third of the area. Mind boggling if you are use to the normal ceilings of the 21st century. In the basement, toilettes occupy a portion of space. The design of the mirror, soap and dryer became a conflict zone as multiple people occupied the space. I've seen service stations do better to configure the flow of a busy restroom. Still, the basement was attractive in use of tonal white and beech wood beige made this feel clinical yet humble. On the ground floor, we saw a stretched reception base, some lifts, other rooms/offices and the all important gift shop. Accessibility: Moving through the arena, we took flight upon the first set of steps, these were cleverly created to allow a seating area on each step running through the centre of the stair case. Padded seats allowed people to scatter themselves while they ate, read and drew in the atmosphere. Along the walkways to embark onto the second floor was not as pleasing, the narrow corridor elongated steps meant you were squished passed on comers taking huge strides in order to make it to the top. After visiting the exhibition, a walk through design timeline, impressive if not for their collection of technology, we descended down the same path noting the lifts yet persevering the journey. As we ventured through the book shop (we did not try to the upper class restaurant), the library was immense although inaccessible as books were stacked up to the ceiling, full of technological trinkets. It was a struggle moving through the isles of products, careful not to knock anything over. Staff: They were shy, design students themselves most likely. Helpful and were polite in their mannerisms however held a certain disconnect with the users flowing through their workplace. The establishment should invoke upskilling this demographic to handle seasoned design cliental. Noise: The open space, volume of people that it could accommodate versus the practically of the buildings configuration meant that sound could echo around doors, walls, through the centre and filter down below. A rough measure of acoustic engineering could demonstrating clever filtering techniques to absorb the sound and pass it through the space however it is what it is, a public space afterall read more

I likely would skip this one if I had to do it over again, given the ratio of price to size. Or, I'd at least do my homework and only go if I was dying to see a particular exhibit. I enjoyed the museum, but felt like I was in and out in no time. read more

I mean, the architecture and grounds around it are amazing - situated in Holland Park, minutes away from High Street Kensington and a modest walk to the Kyoto garden. Bit disappointing however. The staff tend to just stand around and talk to each other, and it's not very clear what can or can't be touched (no signs really, only telling you not to sit on certain things). The history of the underground was very good though, I really recommend it! Getting upstairs if you have a walking impairment could be hard - one of the lifts was broken when I went and we waited 5 minutes to get one going up (but still none came! So we had to get the stairs)! I'd recommend the V&A over this place, or Japan house - not really worth it unless you're a Design aficionado read more

The New Design Museum in High St Ken is certainly a brave new venture wrapped up in the child hood memories of the Old Commonwealth Institute. The interior architecture has been critiqued for not fully honouring it's external host. I didn't mind any of that. I minded the lack of a permanent collection on display. I need to read more to have a better understanding of what on the surface, as a visitor, seems like the most utterly ridiculous error of judgement. It smacks of the blind arrogance. Too clever for ones own good. We made a passing visit so just intended to pop in get a feel for the new building and look at the permanent displays. We were treated to a designer craft faire, excellent, and a small display of some design classics and the ever present 3D printing. Including an enormous 3D printer that when I enquiries if it was being used and who donated it ..... I was told the museum bought it and no one uses it as they don't have a technician for it.... gosh.... really. Money well spent? Only two stars for a Museum! I can explain.............. This museum was once at the vanguard of contemporary commercial design. Representing the creativity of those who sell and do it for the cash rather than the love. Opened in 1989 at the end of a designer decade it seemed to sum up commercial design and place it in a rightful location. In a Museum. With the building by the king of UK design, Conran, and briefly headed by Stephen Bayley the UK's most unique commentators on modern design and culture it was a crowning moment for all creatives in 80's London. And set amongst the Shad Thames converted docks its like a frozen moment in 80's London. It led the way with a designer shop and café and the adjoining Conran restaurant. It was a blueprint in many ways for every contemporary Museum. And perhaps like many firsts it became a victim of itself. Perhaps too arrogant to change, it has carved out an odd and inconsistent history. I have seen some great exhibitions and some average and more recently some truly awful and truly amazing. Its remains unique and could be great but it isn't. read more

miniature museum! Honestly. 2 floors. One tiny gift shop. Decent exhibit of Louboutin's retrospective, but somehow underwhelming. I will go back to see one more exhibit, I think, but I doubt I will be visiting the museum all that often otherwise. Excellent location, but it'd be more interesting as a shop. (it really is tiny!) read more

Ratings will vary based on the current exhibits. Very small and pricey for what it is. Not sure I'll go back unless there a specific exhibition I am eager to see. The museum store is cute. read more

The place is good if you want to see something different and out-of-the-box. However, it's very expensive so be warned. I went there with two friends who were visiting and they seemed to like it. I guess the place is worth going to if you need some change of the scenery. read more

another nice museum to visit while in London. free entrance, friendly stuff and interesting objects to see, though there aren't much, however it's worth a visit and exploration read more

Design Museum - Museums Near Me - London, XGL

the design museum is a solid five stars in my book this is mostly if you are into design things, and the show that is on when you are there is something you are interested in - sometimes this can be hit or miss, I have been here dozens of times and always enjoyed the exhibits. i went to school in London and love to get back here as often as possible. situated in a cool and a little out of the way neighborhood on the river .. a short walk from the tower hill or london bridge tube. the cafe is ok, the gift shop is neat but small compared to the nyc museum shops i am used to now. a worthwhile stop for any design-oriented person passing through London. read more

The Design Museum might rank as one of the most interesting attractions on London's South Bank, and by South Bank I mean south of the River Thames in general. Design itself is such a fussy thing, ruled by taste which is so often ruled by fashion, famously fickle. It's rare, of course, to meet a truly kindred design aesthetic omnivore, and the Design Museum is such a person's mecca. Definitely recommended for anyone who can happily mix their Bauhaus with their Art Nouveau. read more

I've thought long and hard about this review, because I don't want to give the Design Museum three stars. I wanted it to be wonderful. See, (this is something an interiors writer probably shouldn't admit), I hadn't been to the Design Museum until yesterday. There are an awful lot of free museums and galleries in London, and to be honest, I have trouble getting around all of those those (I say trouble, but it's lots of fun). London has some wonderful art and when so much is free it's easy to concentrate on that. Why wouldn't you? How much is the Design Museum? With the (optional) £1 donation it's ELEVEN POUNDS. And while I wanted the museum to be wonderful, I don't feel that I got my monies worth. If they had a permanent exhibition then I might have felt differently. But you're paying £11 for two exhibits. I'm not saying they weren't good (the Kenneth Grange show was fantastic), but that price is shocking. The problem is now, if I want to go and see something, I'll be put off by the price. If you go to a paid exhibition at the V&A or the Portrait Gallery, you get the other stuff as well you can make an afternoon out of it. I was done in two hours, and I dawdled and had a bit of a sit down. The other issue is the shop. I spend so much time online perusing the shop they've got some wonderful pieces in there. And about 15% of them are in the poky shop. It's tiny. I wish they'd got a bigger range, I wish they'd got more space (or an entirely different space like The Southbank Shop have). I want to love The Design Museum, and I feel like I should. But there would have to be something spectacular on for me to pay £11 again. read more

I love design museums: I've been to the Cooper-Hewitt, the Bauhaus Archive, the Danish Design Centre, the Design Exchange, the Vitra, the Stedelijk, the Triennale and the Kartell Museum. This is the first design museum I ever went to, and I loved it -- it's accessible, well-structured and well-signed. Mostly products and furniture, not visual design. read more

It is a museum, all right - but not in a common sense of the word. It is more a kind of cultural melting pot, meeting point, gallery. I liked it. Most of all photography exhibitions. read more

Not the usual Museum for tourists to visit being based solely on the art of design but it can be a good alternative, as long as you can appreciate design. Has an interesting gift shop. Best thing i've seen there was the design of advertising, album covers, packaging, etc. read more

The Design Museum is located right on the river offering the visitor a great view of Tower Bridge and the Thames. The museum is home to a great industrial design floor with a large number of chairs from different periods (very fun to look at if you're a furniture freak!). As well as showcasing different personalities from the Design world it is also host to the Designer of the Year award, held anually and always bringing together fabulous talent. Well curated exhibitions in a nice ample and modern building. Recommended. read more

Too expensive (£11 adult and a measly £1 reduction for Senior Citizens) for what it is. Even if there's a particular exhibit you're dying to see, I can't help but feel ripped off, especially when you're so used to galleries/museums being free. Also, the ticket booth always seems to have a massive queue, and as it's located right by the door the queue usually reaches round the corner outside. Unfortunately, the museum is located in an Arctic wind tunnel so waiting outside to pay £11 to get in feels a bit much. The shop has good stuff though, and posters are very reasonable. For about half an hour after visiting I felt a bit cooler and toyed with the idea of buying a new lamp. read more

Such an incredible experience visiting the Design Museum. Came with my Mum to see the Azzedine Alaïa Exhibition which was absolutely stunning. The building itself is breathtaking and with a cafe downstairs and a beautiful bright restaurant upstairs you're spoiled for choice! We decided to eat at the restaurant upstairs. I enjoyed a tasty superfood salad and my mum had a stunning blue cheese and mushroom tart with such a fresh Greek salad. Views are great over Holland Park and the music is so relaxed and chilled. Overall great experience. (Also gift shop is super funky with awesome bits and bobs you just can't say no to!). read more

average Average place really...I was expecting more... The Brunel exhibition was OK but again a feel of too little... This is the overall impression I get from this place. read more

Design? I expected much more of this museum. It's ridiculous what they call design' In addition to that, the prices are too expensive. read more

A charming little museum in Shad Thames, with big expectation for the future, the Design Museum is definitely one of my favourite museums in London. It's not popular with tourists and families like the Science Museum or V&A and often has very inserting touring exhibitions of both contemporary and past design as well as a great permanent collection of random everyday things with an interesting design story, such as traffic lights, phone boxes, angle poise lamps and typewriters. I always have to be careful when I go along, not to spend too much time (or money) in the shop as it is definitely somewhere where one could get a little carried away! read more

Great exhibitions. Beautiful building and conveniently situated! =D

We really did not enjoy our visit to the design museum. We don't care about Paul Smiths 'first workroom' or his fashionshow. We don't even know who he is. The 2nd floor, dedicated to a range of 'designs' was not so much about designs as it was about inventions. There was little to no interaction, the museum was very static and small. It took us fifteen minutes to see everything. We saw more design on the way to the museum than in it. Our advice? Don't go! It is a waste of time and money (12,50 pound) read more

The museum is on 2 floors in a building ajacent to the river. The first floor was collection of fashion drawings which we enjoyed. The second floor an exhibition of Pawson architecture which was dreadful. The gift shop is specialised and good. The cafe is extremely expensive, coffee at £2.40. A small slice of cake at £3.50. Parking is mainly resident and off street is £3 per hour. There is a huge amount of wasted space in the atrium stair wells and the exhibition area and this is a vey expensive part of London, so this sends the wrong message. This could have been used by fashion design photographs or examples of computer aided design or other teaching materials. No other capital city would dare to insult visitors with this offering. It is difficult to know who the target audience is. with these prices [£8.50/£5]. Its not a cheap day out and I would give it a miss unless the exhibition is truly unique, whicg this wasn't. I would be interested to know who owns this exhibition. read more