The best design shows reveal how creativity, science, innovation and technology intersect – influencing the very world around us. Those working in the space blend traditional art with bold new methods, creating something striking and unexpected. These five international exhibitions shine a spotlight on the pioneers pushing the discipline forward, inviting audiences behind the scenes of their practice. Together, they trace the complex and fascinating evolution of design, unpack the methods and thinking behind the work, and explore how these ideas resonate within contemporary culture and everyday life.
Hella Jongerius is among the most influential designers of recent decades. Since the start of her career in the 1990s, she has created groundbreaking works in many different disciplines, including textiles, ceramics, furniture, lighting and sculpture. The artist’s research-driven approach has become a defining feature for a generation of young contemporary practitioners. Vitra Design Museum’s show is the first retrospective of Jongerius’ oeuvre, exploring all phases of her work. The exhibition centres around the methods of JongeriusLab, layering ideas, drawing connections, emphasising materiality, exposing process and researching deeply, with a dedication to craft, colour and cosmic thinking.
Concert posters. Record albums. Phonographs. Handheld radios. Sound systems. Art of Noise takes visitors on an exploration of how design has transformed people’s relationship to music over the past 100 years. Maria Micanor, director of Cooper Hewitt, says: “Music is the soundtrack to our lives and design is at the centre of how we experience it. Through iconic works that many will be able to trace back to their own memories, Art of Noise underscores how design shapes the very emotions of our auditory encounters.” The show features more than 300 artworks, including music posters by Milton Glaser and Victor Miscoso and the iconic hi-fi stereos by designers such as Dieter Rams and Achille Castiglioni.
How are design products styled and staged? How do designers, photographers, graphic artists and companies work together to promote them? When were the first photographic advertisements produced? This exhibition explores the collaboration between creative talents from the fields of design, photography and graphic art, presenting the products and their staged image from different perspectives. More than 400 objects tell the stories behind prime examples of product and advertising design from the early 20th century to today. On display are pioneers of the field, including Marianne Brandt and Ettore Sottsass, plus exciting new figures like photographer Ingeborg Rams and graphic designer Lora Lamm.
The Design Museum presents work by Simone Brewster for its second iteration of PLATFORM, an annual, free-to-visit display that seeks to make contemporary design practice more accessible. The show marks the London-based designer’s first museum exhibition, featuring objects spanning architecture, furniture and jewellery. The four sections explore the rich narratives and histories Brewster imbues within her work, challenging the conceptions of what is beautiful and valuable. The artist’s career has evolved to include sculpture and production design, and her forms often fuse architectural and sculptural language, layered with references from Palaeolithic fertility deities to African diaspora traditions.
“In difficult times, fashion is always outrageous.” Elsa Schiaperelli was one of the 20th century most innovative designers, pushing boundaries in Paris, London and New York. V&A charts her impressive trajectory, from the origins of her fashion house in the 1920s, through its paradigm-shifting garments, to its present-day incarnation in the hands of creative director, Daniel Roseberry. The show highlights the history of a female entrepreneur and showcases her celebrated, yet little-seen, garments from the archives of fashion. The exhibition will feature the infamous “Skeleton” dress and the “Tears” dress, along with a hat shaped to look like an upside-down shoe, all conceived in collaboration with Salvador Dalí.
Words: Emma Jacob
Image Credits:
1. Thilo Oerke and Rosita Tonmöbel, Rosita Vision 2000, 1971; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Accessions Committee purchase, by exchange, through a gift of Michael D. Abrams; photo: Don Ross OR Mario Bellini, Pop Automatic Record Player, 1968; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, bequest of the George R. Kravis II Collection; photo: Katherine Du Tiel.
2. Hella Jongerius, Coloured Vases, Series 3, 2010 © Jongeriuslab, photo: Gerrit Schreurs
3. RR-126 Radio-Phonograph, 1965; Designed by Achille Castiglioni (Italian, 1918-2002) and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni, (Italian, 1913-1968); Manufactured by Brionvega, S.p.A (Milan, Italy); Plywood, plastic, aluminum, polycarbonate, electronic components; H x W x D (speakers on sides): 46.5 × 121 × 36.5 cm (18 5/16 × 47 5/8 × 14 3/8 in.); H x W x D (speakers on top): 92.5 × 61.5 × 36.5 cm (36 7/16 × 24 3/16 × 14 3/8 in.); Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum; Gift of George R. Kravis II, 2018-22-96-a/c; Photo: Matt Flynn.
4. Ettore Sottsass (1917–2007), Tischlampe „Tahiti“, 1981, Holz, Stahl, MK&G, Foto: Hans Hansen, © MK&G, © erede Ettore Sottsass | VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2025.
5. Ettore Sottsass (1917–2007), Perry A. King (* 1938), Schreibmaschine „Valentine“ für Olivetti, 1969, MK&G, Foto: Hans Hansen, © MK&G, © erede Ettore Sottsass | VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2025 | Olivetti.
6. Negrita bench by Simone Brewster. Photo credit Kevin C. Moore, 2010.
7. Lobster Telephone. 1938, Salvador Dali © Salvador Dali, Gala-Salvador Dali Foundation. DACS, London 2026.
