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The Design Museum
Established 1989
Location Shad Thames, London SE1, England, United Kingdom
Director Deyan Sudjic
Nearest tube station(s) London Bridge, Bermondsey
Website www.designmuseum.org

The Design Museum is a museum by the River Thames near Tower Bridge in central London. Shad Thames is a picturesque and historic riverside street next to Tower Bridge in Bermondsey, London, UK, and is also an informal name SE1 is a postcode district in the SE postcode area of London England England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located London Bridge station is a National Rail and London Underground station in the London Borough of Southwark, which occupies a large area on two levels immediately Bermondsey tube station is a London Underground station It is situated in the eastern part of Bermondsey in the London Borough of Southwark, and so also A museum is a "permanent institution in the service of society and of its development open to the public which acquires conserves researches communicates and exhibits the The Thames ( is a major River flowing through southern England. Tower Bridge is a combined bascule and Suspension bridge in London, England over the River Thames. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. The museum covers product, industrial, graphic, fashion and architectural design. It was founded in 1989 and claims to have been the first museum of modern design. [1] In 2007 the museum was listed by the Times newspaper as number two in their top 5 museums of the year. [2]

Contents

About the Museum

It is a small museum, with exhibitions over two floors, and a "Design Museum Tank" exhibition space out by the water front. It is on the south bank of the River Thames in the Shad Thames area in SE1 London. The Thames ( is a major River flowing through southern England. Shad Thames is a picturesque and historic riverside street next to Tower Bridge in Bermondsey, London, UK, and is also an informal name SE1 is a postcode district in the SE postcode area of London England [3] Deyan Sudjic is the current Director of the museum. Deyan Sudjic is director of the Design Museum, London UK Before moving to his post at the Design Museum, he contributed to Schoolkids OZ, was the He succeeded Alice Rawsthorn in 2006. Alice Rawsthorn (born 1958 in Manchester) is an English journalist and design commentator

Unlike many large London museums, the entrance is not free, as it is not subsidised by the Government. For this reason it operates as a charity, and all funds generated by ticket sales aid the museum in putting new exhibitions together. The museum attracts 200,000 visitors annually.

Construction

The museum is housed in a former 1940s Banana warehouse, which was altered beyond recognition in the conversion to resemble a building in the International Modernist style of the 1930s. For the fruit see Banana. For other meanings see Banana (disambiguation. The International style was a major Architectural style of the 1920s and 1930s This was funded by many companies, designers and benefactors. The museum was principally designed by the Conran group. [4] Terence Conran aided in this conversion, as it was his concept to create such a museum of Modern Design. Sir Terence Orby Conran (born 4 October 1931) is an English Designer, Restaurateur, Retailer and Writer.

Floors

Ground
This is the foyer of the museum, which consists of the Admissions desk, Design Museum Shop and Design Museum Café, as well as the only toilets in the building. These toilets were designed by Australian product designer Marc Newson, and are strangely viewed as an attraction by some tourists. Marc Newson (1963- was born in Sydney, Australia. He is a successful industrial designer who works in aircraft design product design furniture design jewellery
First
The small size of the museum means that all the exhibitions change frequently and the first floor houses the main attraction of the museum as it is the biggest space. Previous exhibitions here include a retrospective of Peter Saville's Graphic Design, Manolo Blahnik's Shoe Design and the History of Video Games. Peter Saville (born 1955 in Manchester) is an English graphic designer based in London. Manolo Blahnik CBE (born 27 November 1942 in Santa Cruz de La Palma, Canary Islands) is a Spanish Fashion designer
Also, on the First Floor is the Blue Print Café which is one of Terence Conran's many restaurants, it boasts impressive views of the River Thames and Tower Bridge. Tower Bridge is a combined bascule and Suspension bridge in London, England over the River Thames.
Design Museum Space
Is on the mezzanine floor between the First and Second floors, it is not generally accessible to the public. It is primarily used for Design Museum talks - which are lectures on design/designers, or hired out for events such as weddings or business conferences. It has a rather jarring shade of light blue, as the theme of the space is supposed to be "the swimming pool".
Second Floor
This space is normally split into two sub sections, a larger space towards the windows/river with a smaller walled off space at the back. A semi-permanent exhibition on historic design is generally at the front, which is usually themed for coherency - such as different decades of design.
The rear of this floor houses a private room called the "Education Centre" which is where the Education Department of the museum teach children, who are taken to the museum for a school visit, in workshops.

Controversy and the Designer of the Year prize

Upon the completion of the building in 1989, the museum's first director, Stephen Bayley, resigned. Stephen Paul Bayley (born Cardiff, Wales, 13 October 1951 is a British Design Critic, Cultural critic and Author. The museum's history has been characterised by such resignations: In 2004, the billionaire inventor James Dyson resigned from the board of trustees, of which he was chair, because he felt the museum was putting too much emphasis on form over function. Sir James Dyson (born Cromer, Norfolk, England, 2 May 1947 is an English Industrial designer. [5] [6] This was following an exhibition of the 1950s flower arranger Constance Spry, mounted by the museum's director Alice Rawsthorn, who also resigned in 2006. Constance Spry ( December 5 1886 - January 3 1960) was a famous British Florist and Author in the mid-20th century Alice Rawsthorn (born 1958 in Manchester) is an English journalist and design commentator [7]

Since 2003 the museum runs the UK's pre-eminent design award, the "Designer of the Year", with a £25,000 prize. The £25000 prize in the Design Museum 's Designer of the Year award is awarded annually to the designer – or design team – living and working in the UK, or to The prize "aims to stimulate public debate about design and to raise awareness of its role enhancing the quality of daily life,"[1] and in its first three years was televised on BBC Two. The winner in 2003 was Jonathan Ive, senior vice-president of industrial design at Apple, Inc., whose innovations include the iPod, iPhone and iMac. Jonathan Paul Ive CBE (born February 1967 is a British designer and the Senior Vice President of Industrial Design at Apple Inc Apple Inc, ( formerly Apple Computer Inc, is an American Multinational corporation with a focus on designing and manufacturing Consumer electronics iPod is a popular brand of Portable media players designed and marketed by Apple Inc The iPhone is an internet-connected Multimedia Smartphone designed and marketed by Apple Inc The iMac is a desktop Macintosh computer designed and built by Apple Inc In 2005 the museum courted controversy by awarding the prize to a Design Council official, Hillary Cottam, rather than to an actual architect or designer. The Design Council is a United Kingdom Non-Departmental Public Body incorporated by Royal Charter and registered as a charity.

The prize is often seen as way to incite controversy, as the work of the four nominees is rarely comparable or compatible. For example: in 2006 a humanitarian architect, Cameron Sinclair, whose work aided many disaster-ravaged communities across the world, was competing against a graphic designer, Jamie Hewlett, for his work on the popular Gorillaz virtual band. Jamie Christopher Hewlett (born April 3, 1968) is an English Comic book artist and designer Gorillaz is a Virtual band created in 1998 by Damon Albarn of alternative rock band Blur, and Jamie Hewlett, co-creator of the Comic Gorillaz won the award. [8]

References

  1. ^ About the Design Museum
  2. ^ Top five museums - Times Online
  3. ^ Art Guide Design Museum, London
  4. ^ LondonTown.com | London Sights and Attractions | Design Museum London
  5. ^ BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Arts | Dyson leaves Design Museum role
  6. ^ News - Telegraph
  7. ^ Caroline Roux: Prize diversity | Weekend | Guardian Unlimited
  8. ^ Design award for Gorillaz creator | | Guardian Unlimited Arts

External links

Coordinates: 51°30′14″N 0°04′29″W / 51.503896, -0.074718

A geographic coordinate system enables every location on the Earth to be specified in three coordinates using mainly a spherical coordinate system.
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