The Design Museum occupies the former Commonwealth Institute in Kensington, a striking building adapted for public exhibitions. Its history makes the venue itself part of the subject: architecture and reuse demonstrate how design can preserve a landmark while changing its purpose.
Guide preview
Before it became a museum, this building was the Commonwealth Institute, opened in 1962. Its distinctive hyperbolic-paraboloid roof—often described as a tent-like concrete shell—made it a landmark of postwar architecture.
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Quick facts
- The building opened as the Commonwealth Institute in 1962.
- Its roof is a distinctive concrete shell structure.
- The Design Museum opened at the Kensington site in 2016.
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