Chrysalis Airfares

Design Museum July 17, 2010

Butler’s Wharf, off Shad Thames, SE1 (020 7403 6933)

London Bridge tube/rail/15, 78, 100 bus. Open 11.30am-6pm daily (last entry 5.30pm). Admission ?5.50;?4 5s-18s, students, disabled, ES40s; free under-5s. GoSee Card member . Credit AmEx, MC, ?TC, V.

Website: http://www.designmuseum.org

This beautifully
designed 1930s-style, sparkling white building is stark and spacious
within – the perfect setting for a collection of innovative design.
Incredibly user-friendly, the museum consists of just two levels with a
minimum of exhibits. The first floor holds the Review Collection (state-of-the-art innovations from around the world) and the Temporary Exhibition Gallery . Temporary exhibitions for 2000 include Bauhaus Dessau (10 Feb-4 June), an in-depth look at the significance of the period when the Bauhaus was based in Dessau (1925-32), the Life and Work of Buckminster Fuller (15 June-15 Oct) and Five Designs of Mr Brunel (26 Oct-25 Feb 2001).
The Collection Gallery ,
devoted to the study of design for mass production, is housed on the
second floor. Arranged thematically, it concentrates on different types
of product. The car is one such focus – look for the wooden model made
up from drawings by the architect and designer Le Corbusier dating from
1928. There are also early televisions, washing machines, telephones,
chairs (including one designed by Rennie Mackintosh) and a collection
of tableware. Temporary shows in the Collection Gallery during 2000
include Dr Martens Airwair (Mar-May) and Hong Kong Architecture: Aesthetic of Connection (1 June-31 July). The Blue Print Caf? ,
which shares the building, with its balcony overlooking the Thames, is
an appropriately stylish establishment (but be warned, it’s a
restaurant rather than a caf?, with prices to match).