Design Museum Gent

Good design is timeless. Ghent owes much of its prosperity to its (textile industry) history, as does Design Museum Gent. A wave of Flemish design talent has made Ghent Belgium’s premier design city. Design is the main attraction at the country’s largest design museum, but a love of good design can also be seen in subtler ways throughout the city. Creative talents from design courses in Ghent generally end up staying here, and the design world reaps the benefits.  

No matter how perfect it may seem at times, design is never really 'finished'. Just like a city, an idea, or the world, you can redesign anything that has been designed or conceived. There's always a different - and better - way. It doesn't just happen on its own. You need to break new ground, challenge the status quo, and be bold. Show a healthy dose of curiosity and rebelliousness. 

Typical Ghent? Definitely, and Design Museum Gent also asks you to take a critical look. How do we define a home? How do we live together as a society? Is this the only way, or is there another way? OK, that's an aesthetically pleasing Van Severen piece, but what role does it play in the bigger picture? Look back and look ahead, but don’t forget to experiment along the way. It is often during this process of trying, exploring, and asking questions that the answer to current problems is found. Design today is not what it was a hundred years ago; nor is today's city. And although change is difficult—no-one likes to get off their familiar, comfortable couch—it is essential. The way we design the world around us determines how we experience it. That is the power of design.  

How much time have you got? The Design Museum's collection is, to put it mildly, impressive. More than 450 objects and archival drawings dating from 1300 to the present are on permanent display. But as is often the case with good design: there’s more. The museum’s entire collection comprises 24,000 pieces—spanning more than 700 years of design history, waiting to be (re)discovered.  

The museum started in 1903 as an educational project: wealthy residents of Ghent showed drawings or actual furniture models to craftsmen and designers to help them improve their know-how and skills. The collection of sketches and prototypes grew into a collection that reflects the canon of Belgian design in an international context. The focus is still on the home - the place where much of life takes place. 

Drawing on historical and contemporary, local and international works, Design Museum Gent seeks to answer the question: 'How can a design collection from so long ago still inspire us today?' Techniques, materials, and concepts from the past remain a source of inspiration for both designers and users, but we also look at things differently now. What once seemed like the perfect solution might raise an eyebrow today. The themes of copy, comfort, migration, folds, and connections guide you through the collection and are an invitation to look for an answer to that question together.  

What effect does design have on us? What does it mean for the future? Designs by - also lesser-known, often female - designers such as Mabel Elwes, Yvette Lauwaert, Yvonne Serruys, Elza Van Huffel-Gallet, and Eva Zeisel offer a possible answer. Alongside classics by international and local design luminaries such as Alvar Aalto, Charles & Ray Eames, Paul Hankar, Joseph Hoffmann, Victor Horta, Arne Jacobsen, Alessandro Mendini, Gaetana Pesce, Gustave Serruier-Bovy, Bořek Šípek, Ettore Sottsass, Henry van de Velde, Tapio Wirkkala, Philippe Wolffers, Pieter De Bruyne, Axel Enthoven, Huib Hoste, David Huycke, Thomas Lommée, Pieter Stockmans, Albert Van huffel and Maarten Van Severen. 

You don't wrap leading design in an ugly box. The Design Museum Gent building itself is a prime example of smart and sustainable design. It was recently fully renovated: the sections from the 18th- and 20th-century were connected by a new wing.  

Design is evident in every corner of the new museum. For example, the impressive reception desk, the acoustic curtains, and a Pocket Garden. And as you enter, take a moment to marvel at the impressive 3D-printed entrance gate by Studio Unfold. 

Today’s designers are primarily looking to the future, and buildings are no exception in this regard. Design Museum Gent therefore developed its own circular facade brick: the Ghent Waste Brick. It is produced entirely in Ghent and consists of 63% compressed waste streams from Ghent. We’ll save you the trouble of counting: there are 80,000 of these bricks in the facade.  

New wing: the icing on the cake 

The new wing is a superb example of architecture. Design Museum Gent used to consist of three separate sections. The new wing connects these sections, like glue binding the museum together. And it works: it has become a spacious 'urban room', a third place, open to everyone and free of charge. A place to stop by for chance encounters, a workshop, events, or a moment of peace in the heart of the city, surrounded by the beauty of good design. 

You can of course visit exhibitions in these areas, but you can also get creative with design here yourself, discuss it, reflect on it, dream about it, or simply enjoy it. But you can't leave without first going up to the fourth floor. Here you’ll be treated to a view of the Castle of the Counts, the Graslei and Korenlei, and the Rabot Towers. 

Every designer will agree: design is like playing for grown-ups. Looking at the world through the eyes of a child and never ceasing to be amazed. That’s why children are the VIPs at the design museum: there is an extensive family trail with interactive stations - ideal for letting their creativity run wild. A visit to Design Museum Gent may well mark the emergence of the next Belgian design talent.