Grand Opening: Design Museum Gent
The Design Museum Gent is one of Europe’s prominent institutions for design and applied arts. After four years of renovation, it will reopen its doors on 3 October 2026 in the heart of the Belgian UNESCO World Heritage city of Ghent. With a new concept, a new visual identity and an expanded museum building, it creates space for encounters, exchange and experimentation. At its centre is the question of how design can contribute to shaping our present and future.
A New Direction
Design Museum Gent was founded in 1903 as a museum for design models. Today, its collection comprises around 24,000 objects, ranging from 14th-century chairs to contemporary designs.
With the renovation, the museum places the social role of design at the centre of its programme. Rather than asking what design is, the focus is on what design can do. The museum sees itself as a place for knowledge, dialogue and debate. Design is not considered solely in terms of form and function, but also as an expression of social developments. The newly conceived collection display shows how objects tell stories about the past and present, reflecting how we live, travel and interact with our environment. Together with the temporary exhibitions, it provides a foundation for understanding design history while also exploring possible solutions for the future. The first exhibition, “Public Matter(s): Design and Democracy”, focuses on the relationship between design and democracy, examining how design can foster civic participation and shape public spaces.
The New Wing
As a former hotel and inn, the site where Design Museum Gent is now located has long been a place for people to meet. When plans for the renovation were developed in 2015, the architecture firms Carmody Groarke, ATAMA and RE-ST conceived the museum as a “third place” in the public realm – an inviting space where people can come together, learn, create and discover.
Alongside the restoration of the listed buildings dating from the 16th to the 20th centuries, a new museum wing has been added. A central courtyard and six flexible spaces expand the museum with areas for lectures, workshops, exhibitions and events. Wherever possible, materials were reused and sustainable solutions incorporated – from the climate-neutral timber structure to the innovative “Ghent Waste Brick”, a circular façade brick made from 63 per cent recycled construction waste from Ghent.
A fragmented ensemble of historic buildings has been transformed into a forward-looking museum that brings together history, contemporary architecture and sustainability. The visual identity has also been given a new look: every six months, it is reinterpreted by emerging designers from KASK & Conservatorium and LUCA School of Arts, turning the identity itself into an ongoing experiment.
Opening Programme
Alongside the exhibition programme, a wide range of free workshops, activities and a design market will take place on 3 and 4 October. The Design Fest Gent will then run until 11 October, inviting visitors to discover design at various locations across the city. Under the title “Windows of Design”, 33 Ghent shops will transform their windows into temporary mini-exhibitions, turning the city itself into a design route.
