The Holiday Season is fast approaching and that means some much deserved time off to visit friends, family and loved ones or even just a break to travel. Whether you find yourself in one of these cities to visit in-laws, or want to take the time to explore your own city, be sure to check out these 5 Top Design Museums to find some inspiration this holiday season.
The London Design Museum
London’s newly opened Design Museum (Photographer: Gareth Gardner)
The London Design Museum recently relocated to the former Commonwealth Institute building. The Museum has been in the media spotlight as exhibitions critique everything from throw-away culture to the impact of robotics. Others have said that the museum itself is a product of consumerism itself and called the design lackluster. If you make the stop over in London – be sure to see Design Museum’s new home and make the decision for yourself.
Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
The Immersion Room at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum (Photo: Manhattan Living)
If you find yourself in New York this Holiday season – one of the treasures you can’t miss is the Smithsonian Cooper Hewitt Museum. Exhibits right now include one curated by Ellen DeGeneres as part of the “Selects” series. You can also visit the tech-enabled immersion room to view the museums extensive collection of wall coverings. You can even design and draw your own wallpaper and have it projected on the walls surrounding you.
Vitra Design Museum – Germany
The Vitra Design Museum in Germany
The Internationally acclaimed Vitra Design Museum features contemporary art and design that explores the aspects and inspiration behind some of the Swiss furniture manufacturer’s designs. The building itself is an architectural marvel which can be explored through their several architecture tours each day. The museum also features special design workshops and talks from some of the best in the industry.
Design Exchange – Toronto
A DX Satellite Exhibition featuring Break~Wave bench, the Grand Cru/ation design competition winner (Photo: DX)
Toronto’s Design Exchange is Canada’s only museum dedicated to the pursuit of design excellence and preservation of design heritage. Located in the heart of Toronto’s financial district, the Design Exchange also parters with through DX Satellite to create exhibits throughout the city’s neighbourhoods. Check out their “What’s on” section to see what’s running. They’ve partered wit Azure and Union to put on a ehibit in the newly renovated union station at the moment.
Museum of Modern Art – NYC and Chicago Institute of Art
The Museum of Modern Art In New York City – Also Pictured in Feature Image(Photo: KPF)
Number 5 was a toss up – between two of the top art and design museums in the world. 1 and 2 according to TripAdvisors Traveler’s Choice awards: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York City and the Art Institute of Chicago. Really, you can’t miss either, so we had to include both.
MoMA features a plethora of modern and contemporary art in a variety of forms including live performances and film, to create a dialogue between the established and the experimental.
The Art Institute of Chicago (Photo: AIC)
The Art Institute of Chicago is one of the nation’s oldest and largest museums. Their department of architecture and design holds over 140,000 works. While you are there you can also explore European post-impressionist works which include works by Cézanne as well as Georges Seurat’s Saturday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte.
